


Child Rearing for Beginners

by albatross9



Series: Child Rearing [1]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Drama, Family, Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 16:22:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15343761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/albatross9/pseuds/albatross9
Summary: When Jeff "Daddy Issues" Winger decides to adopt, the study group is shocked, but not nearly as shocked as Jeff. He isn't sure why he decided to do this, but it feels right, somehow? He only has one question: How do you raise a kid? Slight Jeff/Annie. Alternate Season 4.





	1. April

**April**

“Hey, Tango! You busy?” Mark called from across the room.

Jeff turned around. He had a coffee cup in one hand and a stack of papers in the other. “Just going to make some copies,” Jeff answered, making his way over to his colleague. “But I’ve got a minute. What’s up?”

Mark was standing outside his office. Behind him stood an older woman in a shabby black suit and a little boy with spiky blond hair and a dark blue backpack. “Do you mind watching the kid for a minute?” Mark asked. “I’ve got a meeting and it would probably be better if he stayed out here.”

“Um,” Jeff glanced down at the kid uncomfortably. He didn’t really do kids. He tended to find them loud and annoying. And for some reason they always seemed to be sticky. And if there was one thing Jeff could not abide by, it was sticky little jam hands all over his $2,000 suits.

“Just for a couple of minutes,” Mark assured him. Apparently Jeff still looked unconvinced because Mark rolled his eyes. “He’s seven, Jeff. It’s not like you’re going to have to change his diaper. Just keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t wander off.”

Jeff nodded. “Oh, right. I can do that.”

“Thanks.” Mark turned to open the office door, holding it open for the woman to enter first. When the door had clicked shut behind them, Jeff looked down at the boy and found him staring right back.

“Um. Hi,” Jeff muttered awkwardly.

The kid immediately reached up and held out his hand for Jeff to take.

“My name is Tyler.”

Jeff’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Jeff,” he said, hesitantly shaking the boy’s hand.

Tyler let go and moved to take a seat in one of the chairs outside the office. He calmly slid his backpack from his shoulders and began to dig through it, looking for something to occupy his time. Jeff shrugged. The kid seemed fine, so Jeff set his stuff down and leaned back against the empty desk behind him. It belonged to Mark’s secretary. He was sure she wouldn’t mind. Jeff fished his cellphone out of his jacket pocket, intending to peruse Twitter until he was released from babysitting duty, but something about Tyler caught his eye. The boy was sitting quietly, his feet barely skimming the ground, completely absorbed in the comic book he held out in front of him.

“Spider-Man, huh?” Jeff asked.

The boy looked up from his comic book and blinked at him for a second.

“Yeah.”

Jeff nodded, feeling awkward. He wasn’t quite sure why he was making conversation with a seven-year-old.

“Is he your favorite?”

“Yeah,” Tyler said again.

“Mine, too.”

The boy cocked his head to the side and closed the comic book, setting it down in his lap.

“He is? Why?” He seemed genuinely curious.

Jeff shrugged and averted his eyes, focusing on the pattern in the carpet as he spoke.

“He always seemed a lot more relatable than the other heroes. Plus, I liked his powers.” When he looked back up at Tyler, the boy was regarding him seriously, his eyes bright. “I still have my whole collection of comics. A big box of them. Mint condition, too.”

“Cool.” Tyler responded with a smile.

After a pause, Jeff held out his hand.

“Can I see?” he asked, gesturing to the book that rested against Tyler’s legs. The boy eagerly handed it over.

Jeff flipped through the pages and smiled. Comics sure had changed a lot since he was a kid. “I started collecting these when I was around your age,” Jeff said. “My dad bought me my first comic book.”

“Mine, too!” Tyler said with amazement.

Jeff’s heart fluttered and he looked up in surprise. “Imagine that.” He muttered. He couldn’t be bothered to say more than that. He was too busy trying to understand what had just happened to him. His body tended to reserve strange emotional responses for a select few people. Six in particular. He wasn’t used to this kind of thing at all.

Tyler swung his legs gently back and forth, his toes quietly dragging against the carpet. He was grinning up at Jeff, clearly delighted to have found someone that he had so much in common with.

“I’m supposed to be going to live with my dad soon,” Tyler said, totally oblivious to Jeff’s current inner turmoil. Jeff turned his attention back to the comic book in his hands, flipping the pages but not really seeing them. He just needed something to do with his hands and somewhere to look that wasn’t at the kid.

“I think that’s what they’re talking about in there,” Tyler continued softly, pointing his thumb in the direction of the closed office door. “I haven’t seen my dad in a long time. I think they’re trying to find him for me.”

Jeff’s head snapped up. He looked from the door to the boy.

 “I see.”

As if on cue, the office door opened and Jeff jumped to his feet like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Mark and the woman stepped out into the hallway and shook hands. With a slight twist of his gut, Jeff realized who that woman must be. She was a social worker.

“Ready to go?” the woman asked, turning to Tyler with a kind smile. The boy nodded and slid out of his chair.

“Oh, here,” Jeff said, remembering the comic book in his hands. He passed it back to the boy. “Thanks for letting me look at it.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Take good care of those,” Jeff said nodding at the book. “Might be worth a lot of money one day.”

Tyler grinned and very carefully slid it into his backpack.

“Bye, Jeff,” he said with a little wave as he hefted his bag over one shoulder and hurried after the woman, who stood waiting for him a few steps away.

“Bye, Tyler,” Jeff whispered to their backs as they walked away from him, headed for the elevators.

“Thanks for doing that, Tango. I know kids aren’t your forte,” Mark said, coming up beside him and watching the pair retreat.

“It was no problem.” Jeff’s response was automatic, but he was surprised to find that the statement was actually true. He hadn’t minded at all. Jeff gave his head a minute shake, and turned to gather his stuff from the desk he’d commandeered. He needed to get back to work. The distraction would be a welcome one.

“Poor kid,” Mark muttered. “Cases like his make me question why I chose family law.”

Jeff turned around and looked at Mark, the words leaving his mouth before he was even aware he had thought them.

 “Cases like what?”

“His mom passed away about a year ago. Single mother, no other family. He’s been living in a group home while the state tracked down the father. They found him, explained the situation, and he didn’t want anything to do with it. That’s what this meeting was about. We’re putting together a forfeiture of parental rights.”

Jeff’s response got stuck in his throat.

“That’s the nature of the job, though,” Mark said, clapping Jeff roughly on the back. “’Get over it or get out of it,’ right?”

“Right,” Jeff managed to agree, forcing a smile onto his face.

Mark started to move down the hall towards the break room. “A few of us are going to Skeeper’s tonight for drinks. You in?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you there.”

Jeff stood alone, clutching his stack of papers and his now cold cup of coffee, feeling unbalanced. He turned to stare down the hall in the direction that Tyler and the social worker had headed, thinking about what Mark had told him. He wondered when they would tell Tyler that he wasn’t going to go live with his father after all. Jeff’s heart reacted again, but this time it didn’t flutter; it twinged. Jeff watched the spot where the boy had disappeared and felt his whole world begin to shift. “Damn it.”

 


	2. August

**August**

Jeff walked stiffly into the study room with an envelope held tightly in his hands, still in a daze. The document inside was the only thing reminding him that this wasn’t some weird stress dream his mind had cooked up. This whole morning had been a blur. He automatically moved to his spot around the table but didn’t sit down. It was like his brain couldn’t communicate with his body. It was like his brain just wasn’t working. No, he knew for a fact that his brain wasn’t working. Something had to be wrong with his brain. Something had been wrong with his brain for months.

As he stood there, frozen in place, he became aware of everyone’s eyes on him. Probably because if you saw one of your friends standing stock still with a panicked look on his face, you’d think there was cause for some alarm. Before anyone could ask him anything, he held up the letter he’d received and blurted out, “I adopted a kid.”

Everyone’s jaw dropped. He looked around at the faces of his friends and saw his own shock echoed there. No one was speaking, and he felt the need to fill the silence. “I adopted a kid,” he repeated. “I don’t know anything about kids. I don’t even like kids.”

“Are you serious?” Britta asked.

“The agency called me last night. They approved my application. I’ve got the paperwork right here.”

Suddenly everyone was speaking at once.

“Are you on _drugs_?” Annie demanded.

“Is that why you got a new apartment?” Troy questioned, piecing things together.

“No more one-night stands. Jeff Winger is off the market, ladies. Or fellas,” Pierce chided, very unhelpfully.

“You’re going to be a single father?”

Shirley’s question made all color drain from Jeff’s face. He turned to stare at her wide eyed.

 “Yes,” he said, the reality of his situation just now sinking in. Up until now it had all just been talk. Being a single parent was hard. Really hard. “I don’t know anything about kids,” he said again, still looking at Shirley, his panic beyond evident. “How do you even raise a kid?”

“Well,” Shirley began, her voice turning sweet. Shirley always wanted to help. “Are you adopting an infant? Have you met the child?”

“Yes, I met him.” A shocked murmur went through the group and Jeff’s heart pounded. “Over the summer. He’s seven and his name is Tyler. Tyler… Winger, now, I guess.” Suddenly Jeff’s brain went fuzzy.

“This is going to be like _Big Daddy_ ,” Abed chimed in. He sounded thrilled. Everyone turned to Abed with horrified expressions as they pictured exactly what he was imagining, but Jeff barely noticed. He was too busy having a revelation.

“Tyler Winger,” Jeff said again, but this time it was for his own benefit. Saying it out loud had triggered something in him. His panic began to fade away. He took the sheet of paper out of the envelope he held and let his eyes scan over the words that just this morning had sent him into hysterics. It detailed the terms of the adoption. Everything from the date of adoption to the rules he would have to follow and the reviews they would have to attend. Also included in the envelope was a polaroid of a bright-eyed little boy with spiky blond hair and hopeful blue eyes. Tyler Winger. He felt a warmth spread through his chest and his heart thrummed again, only this time it was excitement. He had moved past his panicked disbelief, but his friends had not caught up to him just yet. They were still arguing. He was paying very little attention until Annie’s voice brought him back.

“You know this is forever, right? Have you even thought this through? A child isn’t something you can just buy and then give up if you decide you don’t like him. A kid isn’t a sweater.”

“I know.” The sudden calm of his voice took Annie by surprise.

“I don’t understand. Why did you do this? This isn’t like you at all.”

Jeff shook his head. He wasn’t sure if he completely understood it himself. He looked back at Tyler’s photo as he spoke. “I don’t know. He was just… He’s all alone.” A hush fell over the group as they listened. “He was at my office. One of the lawyers at the firm was working his case. A custody issue. Mark told me he’s been living in a group home while they were working it out. His mom died. When the state tracked down his dad, the jerk waved his parental rights just like that. His dad didn’t want him. He doesn’t have anyone else.”

The silence in the room felt heavy now. Jeff removed the photo and passed it to Annie. Her expression softened at the sight of the bright-eyed child. “He’s cute.” She admitted with a smile and handed the photo to Shirley who cooed along with her.

“Okay, this isn’t like _Big Daddy_ anymore,” Abed said as the picture was passed around the table, “This is more like _Martian Child_. How do you feel about John Cusack?”

By the time the picture made it around the table everyone seemed much calmer.

“I still think this is a bad idea,” Annie said. “But if this is what you want to do, then we’ll support you.”

“Can we babysit?” Troy asked excitedly.

Jeff grimaced. “We’ll see.”

“Jeff Winger. Parent extraordinaire. Never thought that would happen,” Britta ribbed lightly, looking at Tyler’s picture.

“Yeah,” Jeff agreed half-heartedly. Pierce was the only one among them that knew he had always wanted a son. He’d said as much to Cornelius Hawthorne last year after the Gay Bash and Pierce had overheard everything. But as much as he wanted to raise a son, a part of him believed it would never happen. He had certainly never considered adoption, especially not as a single man. He looked down at the adoption papers, took a deep breath, and nodded. This is not how he thought his life would go, but he knew this is what he wanted. This felt right.

* * *

 

The day Tyler came to live with Jeff was both incredibly eventful and absolutely ordinary in every way. Jeff picked him up from his group home and drove him back to the apartment in near silence. Clearly, they were off to a great start. Jeff hadn’t quite realized until this moment that eleven years was a very long time and would be made even longer by the absolute vacuum of conversation the he so obviously created. During the entirety of the drive, all he could do was ask himself what in the Hell had he gotten himself in to.

They pulled into the parking lot and parked near the stairwell of his building. “So, here we are,” Jeff said, flinching at the sound of his own voice. “Home sweet home.”

He shut off the car and got out, nervously jangling his keys. He popped the trunk and removed Tyler’s one, tiny suitcase from the back. He intended to carry it, but as soon as Tyler was out of the car, he was taking the bag from Jeff.

“I got it.” It was one of the first things the boy had said to him all day.

“Um, okay, if you’re sure. Just so you know, we do have to take the stairs. No elevator.”

Tyler nodded in understanding and silently followed Jeff up the stairs and down the hall to apartment 202. Jeff unlocked the door and held it open for Tyler. “So, um, here it is. Me casa es su casa.” They stood together in the entryway looking around at the sparsely decorated apartment for a moment before Jeff slipped into tour guide mode. “Over here is the kitchen, obviously. And the living room area is over here.” Jeff gestured to each feature he pointed out. “I tend to watch a lot of TV… Uh, my room is over there… and this is your room.” They both moved to stand outside the closed bedroom door. Tyler looked up at him and Jeff inclined his head towards the door. “Go ahead.”

Tyler set down his bag and reached out to open the door. Jeff watched the kid’s eyes light up as it swung open. Jeff had gotten Annie to help him decorate the room. There was a desk and chair against the wall, complete with an empty red and blue corkboard hanging above it, a bookshelf in the corner that was already half stocked, a bedside table and lamp, and a child-sized twin bed fully outfitted with a Spider-Man comforter and sheet set. Tyler walked into the room and gazed around, overwhelmed.

After a moment, Jeff brought Tyler’s suitcase into the room and laid it on the bed. “Do you want some help unpacking?”

“I can do it,” Tyler said, turning around and unzipping his bag.

“Okay, well, I’ll just leave you to it then,” Jeff said, backing out of the room. He closed the door behind him and went to sit on the couch. He clicked on the TV, but, after flipping through a few channels and finding nothing to hold his attention, turned it off and tossed the remote away. He leaned back against the couch and stared at Tyler’s closed door, anxiously patting his legs. What was he supposed to do now? Maybe he hadn’t thought this through quite as thoroughly as he thought he had. He and Tyler had hit it off so well when they’d first met. Now they couldn’t seem to say more than two sentences to each other without the conversation dying.

Without realizing it, Jeff had gotten out his phone and had pulled up Shirley’s contact info. His thumb hovered over the call button. He desperately wanted to call and beg for help, but he also wanted privacy. This was his thing. He could do this. He clicked his phone off and slid it into his pocket.

After another moment of sitting and staring, he got to his feet with purpose. He knocked on Tyler’s door and opened it slowly.

“Hey,” he said gingerly, peeking into the room. “I was about to start making dinner if you wanted to come hangout out here. Shouldn’t take long to make.”

Tyler was sitting on the floor, a couple of action figures in his hands. He looked up and Jeff and nodded.

“Okay,” he said, getting up and following Jeff out into the living area.

“Um, I’m gonna go cook,” Jeff said, pointing to the kitchen. “You can come sit at the bar if you want. Or watch TV. Whatever.” He moved into the kitchen and started getting out pots and pans.

Tyler wandered over to the TV and turned it on, finding some animated show Jeff had never seen before. It was some cartoon about a shapeshifting yellow dog and a kid with a weird white hat.

“Alright, dinner’s ready,” Jeff announced several minutes later. “I made chicken fingers. I hope that’s okay. Kids like chicken fingers, right?” He made two plates and set them on the table.

Tyler got up to join Jeff at the table but got distracted by something near the TV. He whirled around and grinned at Jeff.

“You have a PS3?” He asked excitedly.

Jeff raised his eyebrows at the kid’s sudden enthusiasm. “Oh, yeah, I do. I had forgotten, actually. I don’t use it much.”

“What games do you have?” Tyler joined him at the table.

“Not much, really. And nothing that I think you’re allowed to play.”

“Don’t you make those rules?” Tyler questioned, stabbing a chicken finger with his fork and bringing it to his mouth.

“Oh, right.” This was really going to take some getting used to. “I don’t think I have any games that are age-appropriate, then.”

Tyler’s face fell a little at that news and Jeff immediately felt bad. “What kind of games do you like to play? Maybe after dinner we can go to the store. I need to get some stuff anyway.”

“Really?” Tyler asked hopefully.

“Sure. Why not?”

“Can we get _Minecraft_?”

Jeff looked at him quizzically, “Whatcraft?”

Tyler’s eyes widened. “You don’t know what _Minecraft_ is?” The boy was dumbfounded.

Jeff shook his head no, and Jeff spent the rest of dinner listening to a detailed lecture about every aspect of the game and the various Youtubers that played it. Jeff didn’t dare ask what a Youtuber was. This kid already thought he was an idiot. No reason to add more fuel to the fire.

After dinner they traveled to the store, which worked out well because the trip provided lots of easy conversation topics, such as ‘What kind of school supplies do you need?’ And ‘What do kids eat besides chicken fingers?’

After the essentials were purchased, they ventured to the electronics and hunted down this _Minecraft_ game that Tyler was so nuts about. Jeff wasn’t sure he understood the appeal, but there was no harm in making sure the kid had something to do with his free time.

Back at the apartment, after unloading the groceries together, Jeff could tell Tyler was itching to play his new game, but it was also getting late.

“What do you say we call it a night?” Jeff asked, checking his watch. “It’s probably your bedtime, right?”

“Probably,” Tyler agreed, grinning. He was clutching the _Minecraft_ case hopefully.

“Okay, uh, time for bed then.”

Tyler sighed. “Okay.” He put down his game and went off to get ready for bed.

Jeff watched him go, feeling very out of place. It’s not that he wasn’t used to telling people what to do. He told the study group what to do all the time, but he didn’t have any true power over them. They listened to him because they wanted to, not because they had to. This was totally different.

When Tyler had dressed for bed and brushed his teeth, Jeff walked him to his bed. Tyler untucked his sheets and climbed in, looking expectantly at Jeff.

“Uh, should I read to you?”

Tyler shrugged.

Jeff sighed. “Okay, so I think you’re starting to understand, I’m not so good at this. You gotta help me out, kid.”

“I don’t need you to read to me.”

Jeff nodded. “Okay, then. Good night, I guess. Sweet dreams and all that.” He clicked off Tyler’s bedside lamp and made his way through the darkened bedroom to the door. As he was closing it behind him, he heard Tyler’s small voice call out.

“Jeff?”

“Hm?” Jeff poked his head back in, letting his eyes adjust to the semi-dark, the only light a long beam shinning in through the half-opened door.

Tyler seemed shy suddenly, maybe a little frightened. He bit his lip and looked at Jeff. “I have, um… I have a nightlight. It’s in my backpack. I forgot to get it.”

“Oh.” Jeff’s voice was soft. “I can get it. Where…?”

Tyler pointed. Jeff followed his finger and found the bag. After a couple seconds of searching he was able to find the nightlight. It was a little plastic fishbowl that when plugged in cast a vaguely blue tinted light around the room, just enough to see.

Once it was plugged in, Jeff straightened up. “We can get a new nightlight, if you want. Something cooler.”

Tyler shook his head. “My mom gave me that one.”

“Oh.” Jeff lightly cleared his throat. He moved over to Tyler and patted him on the head. “Come get me if you need me.” He turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. He stood there for a long time, feeling oddly vulnerable.

Without even realizing it, he’d once again pulled up Shirley’s number on his phone. He shook his head, clicked the screen off, and strode to his room, shutting the door behind him. He could do this. It would just take some getting used to, that’s all. He spent the next few hours lying awake in bed, his brain too busy to let him sleep.

* * *

 

The next morning Jeff woke up to the sound of a tiny fist against his door. He grabbed his phone and squinted against the bright white light before groaning lightly. He’d kind of hoped that the whole kids waking up super early thing had just been a myth. Turns out it wasn’t. 7:00 AM was too early for his day off. He heard the knock again and sighed, rolling out of bed and shuffling to his door.

“Good morning,” he yawned while opening the door.

“I’m hungry,” Tyler said.

Jeff looked down at him through bleary eyes and almost laughed out loud. Tyler’s crazy blond hair was extra spiky this morning. He had some impressive bedhead and it was kind of cute. Jeff reached up to pat his own hair. He bet they matched. He turned his laugh into a cough and smiled. “What do you want for breakfast?”

Jeff made his way to the kitchen, Tyler at his heels. “We have eggs, bacon, toast, cereal…”

“Cereal.”

Jeff opened the cabinet above the stove and looked over his selection. “Shredded wheat, Cheerios…” He glanced down to see Tyler making a face and Jeff almost laughed again. “I do have Cocoa Puffs, but I bet you don’t like those…”

“Cocoa Puffs!” Tyler cheered and Jeff grinned. He got the box down and poured two bowls of cereal, setting both on the bar.

They sat side by side at the bar, eating their cereal in silence. Just like that, like they were back to not having anything to talk about. It was like going to sleep last night had hit a reset button. It didn’t help that Tyler was so quiet. He was used to wishing kids would shut up, not wishing they’d start talking.

His phone buzzed next to him. It was a group text. Shirley was asking him how things were going. He clicked his screen off but it immediately lit back up. This time it was Annie wondering the same thing. He picked up his phone and texted back one word: _Monday_. He shouldn’t have done that, though, because now he’d opened up the dam. Troy and Abed were begging to come over for a play date and Britta was offering free psych advice just in case things got intense. Jeff ignored them and stuffed his phone into the pocket of his pajamas. He had other things to worry about.

Jeff finished his bowl of cereal and let his spoon clink loudly into his empty bowl. “So,” he started. “You don’t have to start school until Monday. And I’m taking off school. So, we have a few days to just hang out.”

Tyler stirred the leftover cereal in his bowl and nodded, not looking at Jeff.

Jeff waited a bit to see if Tyler had anything to say before asking, “Wanna show me that game of yours? Blockcraft or whatever?”

Tyler immediately sat up straight and met Jeff’s gaze, a grin forming on his face. “Yes!” He jumped down from his stool at the bar and rushed to get his game. He loaded it up on the PlayStation while Jeff rinsed their bowls from breakfast.

Jeff made himself a cup of coffee and then joined Tyler on the couch. They sat together on the couch for hours while Tyler excitedly showed Jeff the ins and outs of the _Minecraft_ world. That’s how they spent their entire weekend: _Minecraft_ , cartoons, and ignoring the dozens of texts and calls from his busybody study group.

* * *

 

Monday came and Jeff took Tyler to school. He self-consciously met the teacher, Mrs. Bartlett, and all the office workers, and awkwardly responded to the title of Tyler’s father, even if that label wasn’t quite right. He felt like an impostor. He dropped Tyler off as quickly as possible and headed to school himself. He was hoping for a little normalcy to balance out his morning, but he knew that wasn’t a possibility, especially after giving his friends the slip all week. They were itching for details.

“How’s parenthood treating you?” Britta asked as soon as Jeff had set foot in the study room.

“I like Lauren Graham, but I’m not so sure about the premise. I’ll have to give it another go,” Jeff answered, taking his seat at the table with a smirk. He kicked his feet up on the table, purposefully invading Britta’s desk space just to annoy her.

“Hardy-har-har.” Britta responded, making a face at him and shoving his feet off the table.

“We’re serious, Jeff,” Shirley reprimanded. “This is a big deal.”

Jeff sighed and sat up straight. “Honestly, I’ve had to resist the urge to call you almost nightly,” Jeff admitted, looking at Shirley. “I don’t know if I’m doing anything right. But,” he continued, switching to a lighter tone, “I’ve got it handled. Really, the kid is a breeze to deal with. It’s like living with Chang, only I don’t have to watch him as much. Tyler has not once tried to saw a hole in my floor.”

“You let Chang have a _saw_?” Troy asked incredulously.

“I never _let_ Chang have anything. He just kept showing up with saws! I have no idea where he was getting them.”

“When can we meet Tyler?” Annie asked, interrupting them, completely unable to contain her excitement. She was practically bouncing in her seat.

Jeff rolled his eyes at her before responding, “I guess you’ll be meeting him this afternoon. I have to go pick him up from school at 2:45. Figured I’d bring him by here. He could do his homework while we studied or whatever.”

“Hmm,” Shirley huffed at him. “You never let me bring _my_ kids to study group.”

“Tyler’s so quiet you won’t even notice he’s here, I swear. Plus, it’s not like I have a babysitter lined up yet. The kid’s lived with me less than a week. Cut me some slack, mom-zilla.”

Shirley huffed again and muttered something Jeff couldn’t hear, but it made Pierce and Annie giggle.

Now it was Abed’s turn for questions. “Have you had any wacky adventures yet? Like teaching him to pee on walls or dangle his spit?”

“Abed! I am not Adam Sandler and this is not _Big Daddy_!”

“What about using him to get chicks?” Abed asked, pointing at Jeff knowingly.

Jeff took a moment of consideration before answering. “I… actually hadn’t thought of that.”

“Jeffery!” Shirley scolded, and Jeff grinned impishly at her.

“That’s what I would use him for,” Pierce said with a shrug.

Jeff shot the older man a disgusted look. “Then again…”

“I really can’t wait to meet him,” Annie enthused, still unable to contain herself. “I bet he’s great.”

Jeff shrugged and pulled out his phone. “He’s pretty cool, I guess.”

“Wow, father of the year already,” Britta said sarcastically.

Jeff responded by flipping her off.

* * *

 

At two o’clock Jeff went to go pick Tyler up from his first day of school. Before he left campus, he sent out a group text to his friends: _Guys, be cool, ok? Do not freak out on me._

By 3:15, he and Tyler were walking into the study room together. Everyone was sitting calmly in their respective seats, the only giveaway that something was off were the giant grins plastered on their faces. The air almost crackled with their excitement. Jeff sighed. This was the best he could have hoped for.

He lead Tyler to his side of the table, “Everyone, this is Tyler. Tyler, these are my friends: Annie, Shirley, Pierce, Troy, Abed, and Britta.” Jeff introduced them, pointing each person out.

“Hello!” Everyone at the table called.

“Hi,” Tyler timidly said back, which earned him a collective “Aw.”

“Okay! Enough of that,” Jeff interjected. “Study time?”

Everyone at the table grumbled, but Jeff had no intentions of letting this turn into anything other than their regularly scheduled study session.

While everyone was getting out their books, Jeff turned to Tyler. “Here,” he muttered, pulling out the empty chair next to his spot at the table. “You can sit here.”

While Tyler was taking his seat and getting out his homework, Jeff noticed the table watching them. He cleared his throat loudly and everyone quickly turned their eyes to their history books.

“Alright,” Annie announced. “We should go over the questions at the end of chapter four. Everyone can do them on their own and then we’ll go over the answers as a group. That will give us some idea of where we are knowledge-wise.”

Everyone agreed and opened their books. They spent the first two minutes working hard, then slipped into the generally unhurried pace that had come to be expected from these meetings. The Greendale Seven was a study group, but one that wasn’t actually too keen on studying. It was more an excuse to hang out. While they did get some work done, they tended to spend half their time talking. Small conversations had broken out across the table. Jeff was half listening to Troy telling Britta and Abed about his dream last night when tiny fingers tapped him on the arm.

Jeff turned to find Tyler looking up at him. “I don’t know how to do this one,” Tyler said, holding his notebook out for Jeff to see.

“Ah, um, okay, let’s see what we got here.” Jeff leaned towards Tyler and set the notebook down between them. The page was scribbled with messy numbers and symbols. “Math, huh?” Jeff muttered, looking over the page.

“Mmhm. Fractions,” Tyler explained.

Jeff reached over and moved the kid’s math book so that they could both see it. “Well, lucky you, I actually remember how to do these. Which one is giving you trouble?”

“Number six,” Tyler said, pointing to the problem in the book.

“Okay, so here’s how this works…” Jeff wrote out the problem and step by step explained it, having Tyler do the actual math. “See? Easy,” Jeff said when he was done.

While Tyler leaned forward onto the table and looked over the problem, Jeff became aware of having an audience. The room had gone very quiet. Jeff closed his eyes and counted to ten. “Alright, you do the next one. I’ll help you if you need it.” He raised his voice as he continued, “And everyone else here will mind their own business, unless they want us to leave.”

The sudden shuffling of papers and outbreak of quiet chatter was all Jeff needed to hear to know that his message had been received. He stayed focused on Tyler’s homework, watching the kid slowly work out the problem. When he was done, he passed it over for Jeff to check. “Yep, that’s right. Good job.” Tyler beamed at the praise.

Jeff’s heart did that leaping thing again, and he had to look away. “Alright, finish up those last few problems and we can go.” Tyler nodded and diligently bent over his textbook to start copying down the next problem.

Jeff turned back to his own work, but when he found himself staring into space and drumming his pen against the pages of his book instead, he declared it useless. He just had too much on his mind to be dealing with Cornwallis’ class right now. He exhaled and shoved his book away from him, leaning back in his chair and covering his eyes with the backs of his fists.

“Wanna talk about it?” Britta asked rather slyly.

“Nope.”

“Well, if you want to -”

“I don’t.”

“Geez. Just trying to help.”

Jeff sighed and dropped his arms. He rolled his head to the side so that he could see the woman to his right. “I know. I appreciate that you try to help. _Sometimes_.” He emphasized that last part, cutting off the hopeful smile that had started to form on her face. “Just not right now.”

“I’m done!” Tyler called before Britta could respond, and Jeff gratefully turned his attention to the child. Tyler was holding out his homework for Jeff’s inspection.

Jeff took the notebook and gave it a quick once over before handing it back and saying, “Yep, looks good to me. Ready to go?”

The boy nodded and started to pack up his school stuff.

Jeff flipped his history book shut with a loud snap and stood up. “Well, it’s been real, but we’re gonna head out. See you tomorrow.”

“You’re leaving already?” Annie whined. She poked her lip out at him.

“Yep. Got stuff to do.”

“Well, okay.” She looked disappointed for point-two-five seconds before she was smiling again, “Tyler, it was very nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, maybe next time we’ll actually get to hang out!” Troy called happily from across the table.

“Maybe,” Jeff agreed, and then steered Tyler out of the room and in the direction of the parking lot.

* * *

 

The next day Jeff brought Tyler to study group again. They somehow beat everyone else there, so they had the room to themselves.

“What’s the homework situation today?” Jeff asked as he took his seat and got out his phone.

“I have to read a chapter of this book. I also have some spelling homework,” Tyler said, removing a thin paperback novel from his backpack and laying it on the table.

“That’s not too bad,” Jeff responded, not looking up from his phone. “Why don’t you go ahead and get started on the reading.”          

“I’m supposed to read it out loud to a parent or guardian.”

Jeff looked up from his phone then. Tyler sat on his knees in the chair next to Jeff, holding the book in his hands. He was watching Jeff with wide, innocent eyes. “Right.” Jeff stood up and looked around. Still no one from the study group had showed up yet. Jeff gestured to the couches that were off to the side in study room F. “Let’s sit over here. More comfortable.”

He sat down on the couch and Tyler sat down next to him, still holding the book. Jeff took it from him and looked at the cover. “What’s topping the bestseller list in second grade?”

“ _Magic Tree House_.”

“And what’s _Magic Tree House_ about?”

“I think you’re supposed to read it to find out,” Tyler was grinning playfully.

Jeff couldn’t help himself. He smiled, too. “Alright, smart ass,” he said, bopping the boy gently on the head with book before handing it over. “Get to reading, then.”

Tyler took the book and opened it up to the start of chapter one and started reading aloud, only occasionally slowing down to sound out a word. Jeff had his arm around the back of the couch and was leaned over the book so that he could read along too, in case Tyler started to struggle. They were sitting like that when the rest of the group started filing in.

Britta and Troy came in first, talking loudly. Tyler faltered, but Jeff quietly encouraged him to keep going. The suddenly hushed conversation behind him indicated that Britta and Troy had realized what was going on. As the rest of the group arrived, Britta and Troy did their best to shush them, too. Jeff appreciated their help, but it also drew attention to them, causing Shirley and Annie to “Aw” again, which in turn caused Jeff to roll his eyes. Jeff made the mistake of glancing over his shoulder. Everyone was watching them with expressions akin to the one Annie wore when she watched those sappy Lifetime movies. He narrowed his eyes at them before turning his attention back to Tyler. He couldn’t wait for this whole arrangement to become old hat so they would stop finding stuff to coo about. He didn’t like feeling like he was on display.

Tyler finished the chapter and closed the book, looking up at Jeff for approval.

“Very good job,” Jeff said, with a crooked smile. “Can’t wait to see what happens next.”

“We can read ahead tonight, if you want.”

Tyler sounded genuinely excited, so Jeff nodded. “Sure, we’ll read some more before bed.”

Tyler smiled and hopped off the couch, headed for his spot around the table.

“What’s up, Frankenstein?” Abed called as he approached.

“For the last time! Please stop referencing that movie!” Jeff groaned, joining them at the table.

“Should we move on to _Daddy Daycare_?” Troy grinned. “Shirley, let him borrow your kids.”

“Yeah, I hope I do,” Shirley muttered, not even bothering to look up from her textbook.

“Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“They’re funny,” Tyler said to Jeff as he watched Troy and Abed argue with a big smile on his face.

“Yeah, they’re a hoot,” Jeff agreed sarcastically, turning his attention back to his phone. “Do your spelling homework, please.”

Abed, however, had overheard Tyler’s comment and had other ideas. “Wanna come play with us?” he asked.

Tyler’s eyebrows shot up. “Play what?”

“What do you want to play?” Troy asked, excitedly.

“Superheroes?” Tyler suggested and Troy and Abed were immediately game.

They started to get up but Jeff interrupted. “Homework first.”

Tyler poked out his lip but Jeff ignored it. After a moment, Tyler huffed and started scribbling down his spelling homework as quickly as possible.

Jeff didn’t miss the snickering going on around the table and he knew it was at his expense. He felt his face grow hot, but he stayed focused on his phone, refusing to give them the satisfaction of seeing him blush. He really needed this to stop being a big deal and soon.

As soon as Tyler was done with his homework, he was with Troy and Abed. The three of them secluded themselves in the corner of the study room, where they proceeded to launch into a pretend battle.

Jeff leaned against the table with his chin resting in his hand and watched them whisper-shout orders at each other while pointing finger-guns at invisible enemies, the screen of his phone going black as it was all but forgotten in his other hand. After a couple minutes, he caught his lips pulling into a smile as he watched their antics and snapped himself out of it. He shook his head and glanced around to make sure no one had seen. His eyes met Britta’s, who smiled at him very perceptively. He glowered at her. “Shut up,” he grumbled and attempted to ignore the heat returning to his face.

“Why?” Britta asked. “I think it’s cute.”

He angrily got out his history textbook. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Maybe studying would keep him occupied better than his phone could.

Around 5:00, Jeff decided it was time to go. The Three Amigos whined but eventually relented and let Jeff break up their game. They were in the hallway, almost home free, when Shirley chased them down.

“Jeff, wait!”

Jeff sighed and stopped. Why did people never make things easy for him? “What?”

Shirley approached him cautiously, sensing his frustration. “Have you had any luck with finding a babysitter yet?” She asked.

“No, I haven’t,” Jeff answered, glancing down at his watch impatiently. “Look, Shirley, I really gotta get going. Tyler -”

“I know. I don’t want to keep you. I just wanted to tell you that Andre would be happy to watch Tyler after school for you, if you still need help.”

Jeff looked at her in surprise, “What?”

“I know how it is,” She said understandingly. “I did the single parent thing, and it’s not easy. Andre stays home with the boys already, so it would be no trouble. And it would give Tyler someone around his own age to play with. You seem like you’ve got your hands full, so I thought I’d offer.”

An unexpected sense of relief washed over Jeff. He didn’t even realize how tense he’d been until suddenly a small weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He strode forward and wrapped his friend in a one-armed hug, “Shirley, what did I ever do to deserve you?”

“Aw, that’s nice! Just bring him by tomorrow after school.” She smiled up at him happily.

“Thank you,” Jeff said, stooping slightly to meet her eyes.

“We parents have got to stick together,” She said, before turning to rejoin the group in the study room.

Jeff stood in the hallway for a few seconds longer than necessary before turning to the exit and leading Tyler to the car. 

* * *

 

The knock at the door made Jeff’s heart leap. He’d been looking forward to this dinner all week. Since Tyler had come to live with him, he hadn’t really gotten to spend a lot of time with his friends outside of school. And he was especially excited to be spending some time with just Annie. As friends, of course.

“Tyler, could you get that?” He called from the kitchen.

Tyler got up from his spot on the couch and went to answer the door.

“Hey there, kiddo.” Annie’s voice sounded from the doorway.

“Annie!” Tyler cheered excitedly. “Come in! Jeff is in the kitchen.”

Jeff could hear the door closing and then the shuffle of feet. Tyler and Annie’s smiling faces appeared around the corner as he dragged her by the arm into the kitchen where Jeff was standing at the stove, stirring a pot of bubbling marinara sauce.

“Hi, Jeff,” She laughed. “Thanks for inviting me to dinner.”

“Happy to have you.”

“So, what’s on the menu?” She asked, moving further into the kitchen to peer at the pots and pans on the stove top.

“Spaghetti.”

“Spaghetti? What happened to no carbs?”

Jeff glanced over his shoulder at Tyler. “Tyler, why don’t you go set the table for us? Dinner’s almost ready.” Tyler grabbed the plates and silverware Jeff handed him and left to go do as he was asked. Once he had exited the room Jeff continued, “It’s spaghetti squash. So, it’s not really pasta. You can hardly tell a difference in taste. But I can’t tell the kid, otherwise he won’t eat it.”

Annie laughed into her hand, “That’s so cute.”

“Just adorable.” Jeff agreed sarcastically.

“Done!” Tyler called from the table.

“Alright, let’s eat,” Jeff said, then turned to Annie. “Remember: Mum’s the word.” He muttered seriously, handing her the bowl of yellow, noodle-like ribbons of squash.

After dinner, Jeff and Annie were back in the kitchen together. Jeff was washing the dishes while Annie dried them.

“Aw!” Annie suddenly cooed.

Jeff turned to see what she was making a fuss over and found her pointing at the fridge and grinning. Magneted to the front was a colored pencil drawing that Tyler had brought home from school the other day. Jeff rolled his eyes and turned back to the dishes, causing Annie to smack him on the shoulder.

“Don’t downplay this!” She admonished. “It’s sweet that you put his art up on the fridge.”

“You think everything is sweet. The world is Candyland to you,” Jeff pointed out. “I thought it was a good drawing, so I put it on the fridge. It’s better than I could do at seven.”

“What is it?” Annie asked, studying the drawing.

“It’s _Minecraft_.”

“What’s _Minecraft_?”

Jeff turned to her, surprised, “You don’t know what _Minecraft_ is?”

“We don’t all live with seven-year-olds.”

“Isn’t living with Troy and Abed close enough?” Annie smacked him again and he grinned. “It’s a game,” He explained. “It’s pretty fun, actually.”

“Yeah, but Jeff is horrible at it,” Tyler interjected as he climbed onto one of the stools at the bar. “He always falls in lava.”

“Tell that to the Creeper that blew up your house,” Jeff replied, sticking his tongue out at the kid.

Tyler rolled his eyes and hopped down off the stool, grinning the whole time, “Whatever. I’m going to go build a new house with my _diamond tools_.”

“Humility isn’t your strong suit, is it?” Jeff called after him. Tyler only laughed.

When Jeff turned back to Annie, she was looking at him with an awed expression. He shot her a bemused look. “What’s that face for?”

“It’s just so weird.” She said, shaking her head and smiling at him.

“What is?”

She nodded in Tyler’s direction. “You being a dad.”

Jeff’s furrowed his brow, “I’m not – That’s not really –”

“It’s just a new side of you, is all. After three years, you’d think I’d stop being surprised by you.”

Jeff didn’t know what to say.

“I am curious, though,” She continued. “What does your mom think about all this?”

Jeff’s eyes widened and he froze, staring at Annie, “Uh…”

“Jeff… Did you forget to tell her?”

“Uh… I’ll be right back.”

“You forgot to tell your _mom_?” Annie shouted in disbelief as he rushed past her and into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

“Shit, shit, shit…” Jeff muttered to himself as he hurriedly dialed his mother’s phone number. She answered after three rings.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Mom,” Jeff said with forced cheerfulness. “I’ve got some good news.”

 


	3. September

**September**

“Hi, Mom,” Jeff said through a half-forced smile as Doreen swung the front door open to greet her guests. Jeff shifted his weight anxiously as he stood on his mother’s doorstep. He always felt awkward when he visited her, mostly because his visits tended to be short and infrequent. He just wasn’t very good at this type of thing. Today, however was going to be especially uncomfortable. Behind him, Tyler was peeking at Doreen from behind his legs. If Jeff was nervous about this meeting, it was nothing compared to how Tyler was feeling.

“Jeffery,” Doreen greeted happily, reaching up to wrap her arms around her son’s shoulders. Jeff had to stoop to return the hug, patting her awkwardly on the back.

“And who is this?” she cooed, crouching down to Tyler’s level and smiling sweetly at him from around Jeff’s legs.

Jeff placed his hand against Tyler’s back and guided him gently forwards. “This is Tyler, my, um… This is Tyler.”

“Hello, sweetie. It’s nice to _finally_ meet you,” She said rather pointedly. Jeff gritted his teeth.

“Hello, Ms. Fitzgerald,” Tyler said politely.

“Jeff!” Doreen reprimanded. “Did you tell him to call me that?”

 When Jeff shrugged, she tsk’d at him before turning back to Tyler, “You can call me Grandma, if you want to.”

Tyler looked up at Jeff then back at Doreen. “Grandma.” He tried out the name. The word sounded odd to Jeff’s ears.

“Well,” Doreen said cheerily, standing up straight. “Are we just going to stand on the porch all day? Come in, come in!” She stepped aside and eagerly waved them in.

Doreen led them into the sitting room and practically shoved them onto the sofa. She grabbed a chair and pulled it up so that she was sitting right in front them. She wanted to give them her undivided attention. Jeff resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“So,” Doreen turned to Jeff. “What have you been up to? Are you still working at Hamlin, Hamlin, and Hamish?”

Jeff shifted in his seat, “No, I, uh, cut ties with them. I do consulting work for Mark’s firm sometimes. Mostly over the summer. I’m going back to school, remember?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right. Greendale Community College. Do you still like it there?”

Jeff drummed his fingers against his leg. A nervous habit. “Most of the time it’s alright. The students can be… Pretty out there. It’s a unique place.” Explaining Greendale to outsiders was like speaking in code.

“So I’ve heard. That school has a reputation, you know?”

“And it’s well-deserved, I assure you.”

Doreen gave Jeff a strange look before turning to Tyler, “And what about you, sweetie? Where do you go to school?”

Tyler looked nervously over at Jeff. He’d never seen the kid this shy before. When it became clear that Tyler wasn’t going to speak, Jeff answered for him, “He’s in the second grade at Greendale County Elementary.”

Doreen nodded. “And do you like school?” She asked Tyler.

Tyler bobbed his head in affirmation. “I like reading,” He said quietly.

“Well, how about that?” Doreen said with a grin, leaning in and resting her chin in her hand. “What do you like reading?”

“Spider-Man,” Tyler grinned. He was in his element now. The surefire way to get Tyler to open up was to get him going on something that he loved. He would talk your ear off if you’d let him.

“Comic books, eh?” Doreen commented, shooting a very knowing look at Jeff, who averted his eyes. He wished people would stop looking at him like that. It made him uncomfortable. He didn’t like when people acted like they understood his motivations better than he did. He wasn’t a puzzle for them to solve.

While Doreen and Tyler continued to animatedly chat about Miles Morales, Tyler’s favorite iteration of Spider-Man, Jeff excused himself to the kitchen. He said he wanted a glass of water, but mostly he just wanted to get some space. He leaned against the kitchen counter and twirled the water glass around in his fingers. Visiting his mother made him anxious in the worst way. She was a great mom. She’d always adored him. But, growing up, he’d felt the pressure to always please her. In her eyes, he could virtually do no wrong, but that made it worse for him when he messed up. He couldn’t stand the idea of disappointing her. But these last few years had taught him that he wasn’t very good at not disappointing people.

“Jeffrey!” his mother called, her voice pulling him from his reverie.

“Jeffery!” He heard Tyler echo with a giggle in his voice.

Jeff turned his eyes skyward, “Thanks, mom,” he muttered at the ceiling.

He pushed off of the counter and made his way back to the sitting room. “Yes?” he answered them both with faux sweetness.

“There you are!” his mother exclaimed, springing to her feet. “I was wondering if you’d help me get into the attic. I have some of your old toys stored away and I was going to get them down for Tyler.”

Jeff was surprised, “You do?”

“Well of course, dear,” Doreen said, patting him on the cheek. “Mothers tend to hope their children will bring home grandbabies one day.” She turned and headed for access ladder to the attic without looking back.

“I – Okay.” Jeff stared after her for a moment, before turning to Tyler. “Wait here. We’ll be right back.”

He waited for Tyler to nod in understanding before he turned to follow his mother down the hallway. She had already pulled down the door and unfolded the ladder. He could hear her rooting around above him. He wrinkled his nose at the visible dust that floated down from the opening in the ceiling and reluctantly climbed up after her.

“Look for boxes marked ‘Jeff’,” Doreen instructed when he had reached the top.

He immediately got to work sorting through boxes, looking for the faded black scrawl on the side of each box that labeled its contents. He had no interest in idle chatter. His mother, however, seemed to have a different plan.

“I’m glad I didn’t do this before you came over,” Doreen said unexpectedly. “This gives me a chance to speak to you alone.”

Jeff was glad that the low light of the attic made it impossible for her to see his face. His annoyed expression would have gotten him into trouble with her. “About what?” He asked, trying to keep his voice conversational.

“About Tyler. And you. How are you guys doing?”

“We’re fine, Mom.” This time he wasn’t able to keep his tone in check.

“Really, Jeff. It’s not like it’s a ridiculous question,” she scolded. “This is a big undertaking and you’re acting like it’s not.”

“I know it’s a big undertaking. You don’t go through four months of applications and interviews and home studies without realizing it’s a big deal. I’ve got this handled.”

A long silence met his words. The only sounds that passed between them were the dull scrapes of cardboard boxes shifting against each other.

“I’m sorry,” Doreen finally said. “I’m not trying to pry. I just… You two look like you’re getting along, and that’s great. But you just seem so casual about all of this. I understand that you worked hard to make this happen. I know this is what you wanted. But I have to wonder if it’s still what you want.”

Jeff turned to face her. He could see her silhouette standing across the room. They both stood still, facing each other. “Tyler is wanted.” His tone indicated finality. He didn’t want to talk about this anymore. After a moment of silence, he nudged a box with his toe, “I think this is the right one.”

Doreen nodded and climbed down the ladder first. Jeff grabbed the box and passed it down the ladder to her before making his way down. She took the box into the sitting room while Jeff folded up the ladder and pushed the attic door shut. He rejoined them in the sitting room and stood to the side to watch Doreen and Tyler unpack the box together while he brushed the dust off his clothes with slightly more force that was strictly necessary.

After the toys were all unpacked, Doreen excused herself to the other room. “I’ll be right back,” she promised, and disappeared into the kitchen.

Jeff went to sit on the couch but Tyler grabbed his arm. “Who is this?” he asked, holding up an orange and blue action figure for Jeff to see.

Jeff took the figure from him to get a closer look at it, “You don’t know who Lion-O is?”

Tyler shook his head no, but his eyes were bright and curious.

“Kid, we have got to teach you about the _ThunderCats_.” Jeff sat down on the floor next to the pile of toys and started going through them, separating out the various action figures. Tyler excitedly joined him on the floor and watched his progress with fascination.

“Okay,” Jeff said as he lined up the warriors along the edge of the coffee table and pointed to each one as he named them off, “You’ve got Lion-O, Cheetara, Panthro, Tygra, and Snarf.”

Tyler burst into a fit of giggles. “His name is Snarf?”

“Yes, his name is Snarf and he talks like this:” Jeff grabbed the little red and yellow figure and held it up in front of his face. “Snarf, snarf!” He pitched his voice higher into a nasally whine, just like the character’s.

Tyler squealed and laughed, squirming away when Jeff started to walk the figure up his arm and towards his shoulder.

They were still laughing together when Doreen returned. “And what are we up to?” She asked, smiling and looking back forth between them.

“Jeff is teaching me about the _ThunderCats_!” Tyler took the figure from Jeff and held it up to Doreen, “Snarf!”

Jeff brought his fist to his mouth to stifle the laughter brought on by his mother’s perplexed expression.

“Alright, buddy,” Jeff eventually said, getting to his feet. “Let’s start packing this stuff up. We better get going.”

“Aw!” Tyler whined.

“We’ll come back some other time. Put your toys away.”

“No, it’s okay,” Doreen said. “I’ll clean them up.”

“Mom…”

“Aren’t grandmothers supposed to spoil their grandchildren? It’s fine, I’ve got it.”

Jeff ran his fingers through his hair. He didn’t want to leave all the clean up to his mother, but he was rather anxious to get going. “Well, if you’re sure…”

“I’m sure. Oh! Before you go…” She held up the shiny black camera that now hung from a strap around her neck. “I want a picture of the two of you!”

“Mom…” Jeff whined again.

Doreen held the camera aloft and gestured for Jeff and Tyler to get together on the couch, “Consider it a trade. You let me take your picture, and I clean up the toys for you.”

Jeff sighed and did as he was told. He and Tyler posed on the couch and smiled for her. She took way more pictures than Jeff thought were necessary, but he bit his tongue. “I’ll send you prints of these,” she said when she’d finally put down the camera.

Jeff started to tell her that no one made prints anymore, but his snark was cut short when his ribcage was suddenly being crushed in a hug. “He’s just like you when you were his age,” Doreen whispered to him. “He’s a special little boy. Just like you were.”

When Doreen released him, she held him at arm’s length. Their eyes met and all Jeff could manage was a half-hearted smile, “Bye, Mom.”

“Bye, Grandma,” Tyler said in a small voice, reaching for a hug. Jeff still thought that word sounded strange, but it made Doreen coo.

She scooped the little boy up into her arms. “Bye, sweetie,” she said. “Come see me again really soon, okay?”

“Okay,” Tyler agreed.

After a few more hugs and kisses, Jeff was finally able to get them both out of the house and into the car. He let out a big breath as he pulled away from the curb. Visiting his mother was exhausting.

* * *

 

Most days Tyler went to Andre and Shirley’s house after school, but on occasion Jeff would bring him to their study sessions. The group had just had their first big test of the semester and were having more of a hangout session than a study session. They all sat around the table in study room F at their usual spots. Tyler was sitting in the spot next to Jeff that by now had been deemed Tyler’s chair. He and Annie were leaned in close together, looking over a book Annie had gotten him as a gift. It was a book she had loved at his age. Tyler flipped through it excitedly then held it up to her. “Read it with me!” He demanded.

Without looking up from his phone, Jeff cleared his throat loudly.

“Will you read it with me, _please_?” Tyler rephrased.

Annie laughed, “I’d love to. Let’s go!” They both jumped to their feet and raced over to the couches where they giggled together before hunching over the book to read.

“Why isn’t the kid with Andre today?” Britta asked. “Not that I don’t enjoy having him around,” She added quickly after a glare from Jeff.

“He likes hanging out with you guys, for some reason,” Jeff said with a shrug, looking back down at his phone. “And I don’t mind the extra time with him, either.”

“Aw!” The table cooed. Jeff ignored them.

“You know, Jeff, I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” Pierce said from across the table. “As a man who’s raised thirty-two step-children, I feel like I can give you some solid parenting advice, sort of father to son.”

“Not likely,” Jeff responded.

Pierce opened his mouth to speak again, but was thankfully interrupted by Tyler shouting across the room. “Jeffery!” He called playfully.

Jeff took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Please stop calling me that.”

“Grandma calls you that,” Tyler argued back.

“Only Grandma can.”

“But Shirley calls you Jeffery, too.”

The sound of stifled laughed from the group met Tyler’s words. Jeff didn’t acknowledge them. “Okay,” He amended. “Only Grandma and Shirley.”

“But the Dean -”

“Fine! Everyone _not_ named Tyler is allowed to call me that.”

“That’s not fair!” Tyler whined, draping himself dramatically over the back of the couch and giving Jeff a pitiful look, rousing another round of cooing from the group.

“Look what you did!” Britta accused lightheartedly.

“Jeffery, don’t be mean,” Shirley reprimanded.

“Ugh, fine!” Jeff threw his hands up in defeat, “Everyone named Tyler can _also_ call me by my full name!” Jeff pointed at Tyler’s triumphant smile, “But don’t abuse this power. I reserve the right to take it away whenever I want.”

“Deal,” Tyler agreed. He held up the book he and Annie had been reading together and leaned over the back of the couch, “So, Jeffery Tobias Winger, wanna come read with us?” Tyler’s shit-eating grin was bright enough to light up the entire room and the raucous laughter that met his words could have been heard from Boulder.

Jeff pressed his lips into a thin line and turned, pointing an accusatory finger around the table at his laughing friends. “This is all your fault,” He said before standing up and joining Tyler on the couch.

* * *

 

“That was delicious, baby, thank you.” Andre said, placing his napkin on the table and leaning over to give Shirley a loving kiss on the cheek.

It really was great.” Jeff agreed, setting his napkin down as well.

“Can we be excused now?” Elijah asked impatiently. The kids had been done eating for several minutes and were squirming in their seats, ready to get up and go play.

“Alright. Go ahead,” Shirley said with a nod. Jordan, Elijah, and Tyler immediately took off for the living room. When the three of them were together it was like trying to control a circus. Within seconds of them disappearing from view, the pounding of child-sized feet running back and forth and leaping from furniture could be heard.

Jeff shook his head, “I don’t know how you guys do it. I can barely take care of one kid, three would be impossible.”

Shirley and Andre laughed. “You get used to it,” Andre said. “And you seem to be doing fine with Tyler.”

Jeff shrugged and dropped his gaze.

Whatever Shirley was about to say next was cut short when Tyler came barreling back into the room. He rushed straight for Jeff’s chair and came to a stop in front of him. “Jeff, look!” He shouted, “My tooth is loose!” He smiled wide and wiggled his top front tooth with his tongue in demonstration.

“Huh, so it is,” Jeff said, peering into the kid’s mouth. Then, after a beat, “Are you supposed to be losing teeth yet?”

Tyler shrugged. Jeff looked over at Shirley for the answer. She sighed, “Yes, Jeff, seven-year-olds lose teeth. Did you do _any_ research before deciding to adopt?”

“Yes, I did,” Jeff said defensively. “But looking up when children start losing teeth wasn’t exactly at the top of my list.”

Tyler, bored of the adults’ conversation, turned and skipped away, headed back to his friends in the other room.

As Jeff watched Tyler’s retreating form, he had a sudden realization. He turned to Shirley and Andre with wide eyes, “I have to be the Tooth Fairy, don’t I?”

“Maybe I take back my previous statement,” Andre laughed, causing Jeff to glare.

* * *

“Alright, well, we should probably get going,” Jeff said half an hour later.

“Let me give you some leftovers,” Shirley said happily, getting to her feet and heading for the kitchen, baby Ben in her arms.

“Shirley, no, that’s not necessary,” Jeff insisted, getting up and following her. “You guys watch Tyler every day after school. I’m not going to take your food, too.”

“Here, take him,” Shirley said, handing Ben to Jeff, completely ignoring Jeff’s argument.

Jeff took Ben and looked down at the chubby, drooling toddler in his arms and held him out, slightly away from his body. “Um…”

“Oh my gosh,” she exclaimed. “You _have_ a kid! How can you be uncomfortable with kids?”

“I’m just not good with babies.” Jeff nervously kept his eyes on Ben. “And I don’t have a kid. I have a Tyler. There’s a difference.”

“I’ll take him,” Andre offered, arriving just in the nick of time.

Jeff gladly placed Ben in Andre’s arms and hastily ducked out of the kitchen before anymore could be said about the subject. He made his way into the living room where the three boys were currently taking turns wrestling each other to the ground.

“Alright, Tyler. Time to go. Say goodbye to the Bennetts.”

“No!” All three boys shouted, getting to their feet.

“Thirty more minutes!” Jordan pleaded.

“Yeah! Please, Jeff?” Tyler begged, wrapping his arms around Jeff’s waist.

“Please, Jeff!” Jordan and Elijah echoed, grabbing each of Jeff’s arms.

“Come on, Tyler. We need to go,” Jeff said, trying to extract himself from their grip. “You’ll see each other tomorrow!” He tried to shake them off again but that only made them laugh and hang on tighter, putting all of their weight on him and holding him in place.

“Shirley!” He called. “Some help, please!”

A few moments later, Shirley appeared in the doorway. As soon as she saw Jeff’s predicament, she burst into laughter and got out her phone to take pictures.

“That is _not_ helpful!” Jeff said with a frown. “Aren’t you supposed to discourage this stuff?”

“Say cheese!” Shirley laughed.

“Cheese!” The boys mimicked, grinning for the camera. Jeff stuck out his tongue.

“Alright, boys. Let go now. Time to say goodbye.” At her command, the boys released Jeff, who gratefully reclaimed his arms.

They all said their goodbyes quickly and Jeff managed to get away with only a couple of Tupperware containers of leftovers, thankfully none of them containing baked goods of any kind.

By the time they’d made it home, the picture was already posted to Facebook with twenty-five Likes and climbing.

_You suck._ Jeff commented.

Moments later Shirley replied, _Love you, too!_


	4. October

**October**

Jeff was lounging on the couch while Tyler sat on the floor, using the coffee table as a desk. He was coloring while they spent their afternoon watching _SpongeBob_ reruns together. Well, Tyler was watching _SpongeBob_. Jeff was on his phone. When it cut to commercial Tyler turned to Jeff and held up his picture for approval. It was of a house and three people standing outside of it.

“Very nice.” Jeff complimented, looking up from his phone.

“It’s for Grandma. See? It’s her house. And there’s us.” He pointed to the three figures.

“She’ll love it.”

Tyler put the drawing down and asked, “When are we going to see her next?”

“I don’t know,” Jeff answered, turning his attention back to his phone.

“You don’t see her a lot, do you?”

Jeff was staring at his phone but not touching it. He just didn’t want to be looking at Tyler. “Not really, no.”

“Why?”

Geez, this kid asked hard questions. Why couldn’t he get the easy ones like ‘Where do babies come from?’ And ‘why is the sky blue?’ “I, uh… I just don’t. I have trouble talking to her, I guess.”

“I think you should go see her more,” Tyler said, turning away and getting out another sheet of paper to continue drawing.

“Why’s that?” Jeff said with a smile, expecting an answer about Grandma having fun toys or something.

“Because I can’t go see my mom.”

Jeff’s heart lurched. He slowly lowered his phone, staring at the back of Tyler’s head. He was still bent over the table, coloring. It was a long moment before Jeff could find his voice. “I guess you miss her a lot, huh?” Tyler’s head bobbed, but he didn’t look up. Jeff leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs, “I’m sorry. About your mom. Sometimes I forget, and I shouldn’t.”

Tyler shrugged. “It’s okay.”

Jeff continued to stare at the back of Tyler’s head. He didn’t know what to say. He should say something. But what do you say to an orphaned kid who just told a grown man to appreciate his mom because she wouldn’t always be around?

“Family is important,” Tyler said after a bit, turning around to look Jeff in the eye.

“When did you get so wise?”

Tyler’s face split into a smile, “Annie says I’m an old soul.”

Jeff leaned back in his seat again, eyes still on Tyler. “You know, I think Annie might be right.”

“Annie says she usually is.”

Jeff rolled his eyes so hard he was surprised they remained in his skull. “She would. You have my permission to call her a smart ass next time she says something like that.” **  
**

* * *

 

Jeff was sitting on the couch watching TV when Tyler burst out of his room with his hand held over his head, pinching something small between his fingers. “Look!” He ran up to Jeff and held out the little white object, grinning wide to reveal a gap in his top row of teeth.

“Look at that!” Jeff said, returning the boy’s grin. “No more tooth.”

Tyler nodded proudly then turned to head back to his room.

“Hey, snaggle-tooth!” Jeff called. “Get back over here. Let me take a picture for Grandma.” Jeff pulled out his phone and held it up. Tyler held up his tooth and showed off his gap-toothed smile. Jeff took the picture, then patted his lap, “Come here.”

Tyler bounced over and sat in Jeff’s lap. Jeff flipped the camera around so the screen showed both their faces side by side. They both smiled hard, cheesing for the camera.

“Alright, give me your tooth so it doesn’t get lost,” Jeff said after he’d snapped the photo. “We’ll put it under your pillow tonight.”

Tyler handed over his tooth with a smile and disappeared back into his room.

Jeff put the tooth into a Ziploc bag and stuffed it in his pocket for safekeeping. He returned to the couch and emailed the pictures to Doreen. Without even thinking about it, he found himself posting them to Facebook as well. He pulled up the picture of his and Tyler’s smiling faces. His thumb hovered over the screen for a long moment before he tapped ‘Make Profile Picture’.

* * *

 

The door swung open revealing the three occupants gathered around the door, already in pajamas. “Hi!” Troy, Abed, and Annie greeted enthusiastically.

Jeff and Tyler stepped into the apartment and shut the door behind them. As soon as they’d crossed the threshold, Abed and Troy were babbling about their plans and Tyler was nearly vibrating with excitement.

“Come see the fort we built!” Troy insisted, taking off towards the monstrous blanket tent that now enclosed the back half of the room.

Tyler started to follow but Jeff grabbed his arm, stopping him mid-step. “Remember what we talked about,” Jeff warned, bending so that he was eye level with him. “Behave. Annie is in charge, so mind her.”

“Jeeeff,” Tyler groaned.

“Call me if you need me, okay?”

“Jeff, please?”

“Alright, go on.” Jeff said, releasing his arm and straightening up. “See you in the morning!” He called after him as the boy rushed off to join Troy and Abed in their fort.

Annie grinned knowingly at him. “No need to look so worried. You’re not sending him to war.”

“I’m not worried. Why would I be worried?” Jeff retorted. He slipped Tyler’s backpack off his shoulder and handed it to Annie. “Here. All his stuff is in there, including his nightlight.”

“Got it.” Annie said, taking the bag from him and swinging it over her shoulder.

“I’m counting on you to be the adult here,” Jeff said, seriously.

“We’re all adults here,” Annie countered.

Behind her Abed shouted, “We’re under attack!” The three fort-dwellers rushed through the tent flap with paper towel roll swords in hand and scurried for high ground on the nearby couch.

Annie flinched at the sound and said, “Okay, I see your point.”

“Mmhm.” Jeff shot her stern look, “In bed by nine, no scary movies, no caffeine.”

“We’ve got this. Really. Don’t be such a helicopter parent and go,” She said, shoving against his arm, pushing him in the direction of the door.

Behind them Tyler could be heard shouting: “ThunderCats, ho!” At the top of his lungs as he stood on the arm of the couch with his cardboard sword held high overhead.

“I taught him that,” Jeff said with a proud smirk. “Have fun!” He gave her a teasing wave before ducking out into the hallway.

* * *

Jeff walked into the study room with Tyler at his heels. They were both dressed in their Halloween costumes. Jeff was a boxer and Tyler was a referee. He had originally intended to leave Tyler with Shirley’s kids and have their babysitter watch him, but the idea of leaving him with a babysitter on their first Halloween together hadn’t sat right with him. But he’d also put a lot of effort into planning a group costume, so he might as well make a quick appearance at Vicki’s party before he took the kid out trick-or-treating.

“Happy Halloween parties!” he called to the half-assembled group. “You all look great.” Shirley was dressed as Leia from Star Wars, Troy and Abed were Calvin and Hobbes, and Britta was… “Ham,” Jeff noted with just a hint of condescension in his voice.

“Pig,” Britta retorted, looking him over. “Let me guess. You’re a flimsy excuse to be shirtless wearing silk underwear.”

“And you’re as wrong as you are welcome,” Jeff sneered at her. “No, this year I planned a group costume with Annie and Tyler.” He gestured to the boy standing at his side. Tyler was wearing black slacks and a black and white striped shirt. “He’s the ref. Annie’s my ring girl.”

Just then, Troy and Shirley shouted in surprise causing them all to turn and see Annie crawling across the threshold of the study room, her movements quick and jerky just like in a horror movie. She stopped crawling and popped up with a smile, revealing her long black wig and dirty white dress. “Pretty freaky-deaky, huh?”

“Annie, no,” Jeff sighed. “I meant the boxing match ring girl! They’re the sexy ones that hold up the numbers.”

“Yeah, see? This is why we can’t just text about it, Jeff. I don’t watch sports!” Annie shot back.

“There’s no boxer in _The Ring_ ,” Abed threw in.

“I don’t watch scary movies!”

Tyler was in a fit of giggles over the argument. He found all of Jeff’s friends to be insanely entertaining. “I think she looks cool,” He offered through his quiet laughter.

“You would,” Jeff muttered to him.

“’And that’s why you leave the couples’ costumes to the couples’ she said wisely,” Britta joked, obviously trying to get under Jeff’s skin. He only scoffed.

“Maybe you should warn your boyfriend’s boyfriend,” He replied, referring to Troy and Abed’s matching costumes.

“Just because we’re dating doesn’t mean we have to do everything together,” Britta argued back. But she wasn’t going to win this.

“Well, you need to do some things together.”

“We do some things!” Troy cut in defensively. At a look from Britta he continued, “We do a lot of things.” After a gasp from Shirley he exclaimed, “Not all the things!” He held out his arms to his sides, “Things,” He finished.

“Okay!” Jeff said, changing the subject as Troy stepped off to answer his ringing phone. “We’re all here, minus Pierce, who wasn’t invited to Vicki’s party for reasons beyond our control and concern.”

“No mystery there,” Annie commented, she looked over at Tyler and explained. “She put a pencil through his face.”

Britta, Abed, and Shirley all laughed at the memory but Jeff shook his head, “Don’t tell the kid that!” Tyler didn’t look upset by this information, though. In fact, he was laughing along with everyone else. But the story just didn’t seem appropriate to Jeff. Weird, because that didn’t used to be something he would have cared about.

“Does Vicki have a TV?” Abed interrupted.

Jeff sighed, “It’s a party. You’re not watching TV.”

“No, I’ll be watching Annie.” Abed pointed at his roommate, “She started watching _Cougar Town_ reruns which makes Annie my third favorite show. And tonight is the Hallo-Wine Special.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Annie said happily. “Better not miss the merlot!” She and Abed both mimed raising wine glasses, “Clink!”

Jeff watched the display and shot Annie an exasperated look.

“What? You fall into in,” Annie said bashfully, twirling the hair of her wig around her fingers as she spoke. Jeff couldn’t help it. He smiled at her. As frustrating as she was, there was a reason he included her in his group costume. Honestly, he’d kind of hoped that their matching costumes would convince her to ditch the party and come trick-or-treating with him and Tyler. Maybe she still would.

“That was Pierce,” Troy said as he rejoined the group with his phone in his hand. “He accidentally locked himself in his panic room and he needs our help.”

“Oh!” Everyone groaned.

“No, ‘oh!’” Jeff said, shaking his head and looking around at his friends. “’Oh’ means we’re going against our will and we are _not_ going. I only have a couple hours to be at this party and I am not wasting my time on him. He’s lying.”

“He seemed pretty upset,” Troy responded. “He’s been all alone up in that mansion ever since I moved out and his dad, you know,” He dropped his voice to whisper, “Got killed by Jeff.”

Jeff widened his eyes at Troy and quickly glanced down at Tyler who still stood patiently by his side and who was, unfortunately, paying rapt attention to the conversation his adult friends were holding. He looked up at Jeff with curious eyes and Jeff in turn shot Troy a scathing look. Great. Troy shrugged apologetically.

Britta either missed their exchange or didn’t care. “Calling for help. A classic call for help.” Britta mimed answering a phone, “Hello, Dr. Perry’s office. Damaged psyche? Yes, I’ll accept the charges.”

Jeff rolled his eyes, “Heads, lock up your brains. Britta’s on the prowl for fresh therapy meat.”

“Maybe we should just stop by on our way to the party,” Annie petitioned.

“I assure you, the only thing Pierce is trapped in is adolescence,” Jeff said to the group, slipping into his convincing speech voice. “He’s a geriatric toddler throwing the most elaborate tantrum money can buy. And I for one am not going to stand by and allow some lonely, ridiculous person to derail our group’s plans.”

As if summoned, Dean Pelton burst into the room wearing a curly blond wig and way too much make-up. But that was nothing compared to the sight of his clothes. Or lack thereof. He was dressed in a sparkly pink crop top and tiny blue shorts that showed off far too much thigh. “Dean, dean, dean!” He called, prancing around with a giant Round 1 sign held above his head. “To your corners, fighters! Someone save me a towel!”

Jeff balked and then quickly reached down to cover Tyler’s eyes. He didn’t need to see this. All he’d wanted to do was spend Halloween with the kid and this whole evening was turning into something the boy would be recounting in therapy for the rest of his life.

The Dean sauntered up to Jeff and popped his hip, smiling, “You guys going to Vicki’s party?”

Jeff grimaced. “We just gotta do this thing first.” He grabbed Tyler by the arm and led the group quickly out of the study room and toward the parking lot.

“The Dean was wearing a wig,” Tyler commented as he struggled to keep up with Jeff’s long-legged gait.

“Yes, he was.”

“Does he do that a lot?”

“Yes, he does.”

The sound of snickering behind them made him groan. He was definitely going to have to pay for this kid’s therapy.

* * *

Hawthorne Manor was giant and foreboding and so, so tacky. It was nightmare fuel on its own. It didn’t need the guise of Halloween to be creepy. Once inside, the ever-curious Tyler immediately began to wander off, wanting to explore, but Jeff quickly put a stop to that. As soon as Tyler had taken three steps in the direction of the nearest dark, cobweb laden hallway, Jeff reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt. “Nope. Stay with me. And don’t touch anything.”

“Why?” Tyler questioned, a hint of a whine sneaking into his voice.

“Because it’s not… Sanitary. And you’ll get lost.”

Tyler sighed. “Fine.”

They made their way through the house with Tyler obediently trotting along next to them. They were guided by Troy who led them straight to the panic room, launching into a spiel about when it was built and blah blah blah. Something he’d been forced to memorize when he’d lived here.

Troy went to turn on the telecom screen. “Wait!” Jeff said, reaching toward Troy. “It might be a trap. Or it might let him out. Either way, we -”

“Oh, put a sock in it, shorts,” Annie interrupted.

Troy turned on the telecom, revealing a live video stream of Pierce sitting alone at a desk in a tiny, well-stocked room, an empty wine glass between his fingers.

“Oh, hey guys.” Pierce’s voice came through the speakers on the TV screen, sounding tinny and far away.

“Pierce, are you okay?” Shirley asked, slipping into her Miss Piggy voice.

Pierce launched into a story about bumping a switch while dusting and not remembering the code. He’d supposedly written the code down in a red notebook that was either in his bedroom or his study.

“We’ll find it,” Annie promised. “It’ll take two secs.”

“Or,” Jeff said, halting them as they turned to go on a wild goose chase, “We take one sec and skip to the catch. This place hasn’t been dusted in months, and he starts with the panic room? No sale. He’s not a sad old man. He’s a sad old liar.”

“Jeffery!” Shirley chided, but Pierce cut in, coming to Jeff’s defense.

“No, no, he’s right,” He said, standing and moving toward the camera so that his image was larger on the telecom screen. “I’ve been lying to you. The truth is, last night I got up for a glass of red wi- water,” He quickly hid the wine glass he’d been holding, “And on my way back from the cellar I saw something that scared me so badly that I locked myself in here on purpose. The part about me not remembering the code is true.” He gestured toward the camera with the wine glass, “I’m very thirsty.”

“Why didn’t you call me sooner?” Troy asked.

“I had to come up with that awesome dusting story because if you knew what really spooked me you’d probably call me crazy and old.”

“No one’s gonna call you, Pierce,” Jeff said with a self-satisfied smile.

Annie smacked him on the chest then looked back at the screen. “You can tell us. We’re here to help you.”

Pierce sighed, “I thought I saw my dad. It looked like his face was coming right through the wall. But that’s impossible, because my dad is dead.”

“Aha!” Jeff stepped forward towards the screen, then took a mental step back, “Not ‘Aha! Your dad is dead’, but ‘Aha! I knew it!’ Ghost dad, exploring your haunted mansion for secret codes? Nice try, Pierce.” Jeff turned to get an agreement from his friends, only to find them spreading out and grouping off. “You gotta be kidding me! What in the Scooby-Doo is happening to you people?”

“Go to the party,” Annie said dismissively. “We’ll meet you there. We’re gonna stay and help Pierce.”

“Can we stay, too?” Tyler begged, grabbing Jeff’s hand and tugging him in the direction that everyone was headed. “Please? I wanna see the house!”

Jeff sighed and followed behind the group as they moved deeper into the house. Tyler stayed close to Jeff until the group started to split up. Tyler dashed away and grabbed onto Abed’s arm, “Can I go with Abed and Annie?”

Jeff glanced over at Annie who grinned down at the kid, “That’s fine with me.” They both looked up at Jeff with wide puppy dog eyes.

He had to physically stop himself from rolling his eyes, but if that made the kid happy then who was he to say no. “Alright, you can go with them. But don’t wander off.”

Tyler’s face split into one of his room brightening grins and skipped off, happily sandwiched between Abed and Annie, clearly delighted with their company.

Troy and Shirley went down the next hall together, leaving Britta and Jeff alone together. The silence between them lasted all of two milliseconds before Britta was off on a whirlwind rant. Before long they were arguing but that ended when Jeff said something a little ruder than was called for and had to apologize. “This house is getting to me,” He admitted.

“I know. Kinda weird that a dead person lived here,” Britta agreed, but that wasn’t quite what Jeff meant.

He moved over to a small table and spotted a dusty framed photo of Cornelius and young Pierce. He picked it up to get a closer look. “What's weird is that a living person lived here with his parents well into his 60s, then they died and he's still here like a paralyzed Peter Pan.”

“Not for long. I'm gonna set my shrink ray to ‘daddy issues’ and blast that sucker full of closure.”

“Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt,” He said, setting down the photograph and moving on.

“Exactly,” Britta agreed. “Because in one way or another, therapy is always helpful.”

“No, because there’s no possible way you could mess him up worse. It’s like practicing on a cadaver. Knock yourself out.”

“This has gotta be it!” Britta called out, pointing at a set of dusty curtains hanging in a rounded doorway. It definitely looked like the place.

Jeff groaned, “Ugh, I wish I didn’t have so much exposed skin.” He tucked his hands into the sleeves of his robe and pushed his way through the curtain, careful to avoid direct contact with the fabric. He made another noise of disgust and then came into the room. When he flipped the light switch he almost immediately wished he hadn’t. The room had curved, dark blue walls and a round, unmade water bed. The fireplace had neon flames instead of real ones and a giant portrait of a young Pierce Hawthorne hung above the bed. When the light switch had been flipped some weird, retro style music had begun to play through speakers embedded in the ceiling.

“Tubular,” Britta commented.

“I too lack the adjectives,” Jeff responded before reaching over and flipping the switch that controlled the music. “Now, how does one search for a red notebook that doesn't exist without looking, touching, or creating future nightmares?”

“I’ll check the nightstand,” Britta offered, waddling off in the direction of the bed.

“I’ll check my messages,” Jeff muttered, moving off to the side next to bookshelf and pulling his cellphone from the waistband of his shorts. He was distracted for only a moment before Britta’s voice brought him back to the reality of standing in Pierce’s bedroom. Yuck.

“Oh, my God. Pierce keeps his dad's bow tie by his bed,” Britta called, pointing to a moth-eaten yellow bowtie that lay next to the lamp on the bedside table. “Yeesh.” She spun around and mimed talking into a telephone, “Table for Siggy Freud, party of -”

“Britta, stop answering phones!” Jeff snapped. She mimed hanging up the phone, looking crestfallen. Jeff turned to the bookshelf and grabbed another framed photo of Cornelius. “How about we ask Rip van Racism where the codes are?”

“Don’t. That’s not nice,” Britta warned.

Jeff scoffed, “What? He was a tightfisted, philandering bigot who got to outlive most bridges. We don't owe him reverence.” Jeff looked down at the photo in his hands, “So, how about it, you old bag of dust? You got our numbers?”

Britta looked panicked. “I’m serious. Stop it!”

Jeff glanced back up at her, still holding the picture, “Come on, you don’t really believe in ghosts?”

“I’m just not so quick to rule it out!” Britta said defensively, still a little freaked out. “I believe that people can be haunted by unresolved issues in their past.”

“Yeah, but issues don’t turn into ghosts.”

“Maybe for Pierce, they have. Maybe Pierce and his dad have seriously unfinished business.”

“No, the dead can't have business. They can't want or think or do. It's what makes them dead. It's the living who choose to be haunted.” Jeff held up the photo frame, picture facing out, “Cornelius was barely a dad. Now he's nothing. Pierce can keep staring into that void or he can turn around, face his future like I did, and say: ‘Who gives a crap who my dad was? I'm my own man now. I -’” Jeff stopped talking and dropped his arms, smiling at Britta’s triumphant expression. “Wow, pretty slick, Britta. Using ghosts to trick me into opening up. Too bad it didn't work.” He twisted and set the photo back down on the shelf. When he turned back around to face the room he was assaulted by Britta’s pure joy.

Her smile had spread across her face and she happily danced in place, impeded as she was by her ridiculous costume. “Oh, man, so this is what the zone feels like. Analyze this!”

“Okay, that’s enough of that,” Jeff said, waving her off and moving towards the doorway. “Clearly the notebook isn’t here so let’s move on. We’ve already been here way too long.”

But once Britta was like this, it was almost impossible to bring her back down to earth.

“What’s up, Winger?” she teased. “Why change the subject? You don’t like being outsmarted? Or you don’t like me getting to the root of your daddy issues?”

“What daddy issues?”

Britta sighed in exasperation, but the grin never left her face. “Oh, please.”

Jeff moved towards Britta, the bed now separating them, “Give me one example. Just one.”

“Tyler,” Britta said pointing at him.

“Um, what?” Jeff held his arms out to his sides, indicating that that example was nonsensical.

Britta shook her finger at him, “You adopted a little boy who was abandoned by his father. You could relate to that. You saw yourself in him or something, so you adopted him as a coping mechanism!”

“I adopted a kid that didn’t have a family. He was in a group home, Britta! I adopted him because it was the right thing to do. Don’t cheapen an act of kindness by treating it like a symptom.”

“There are thousands of kids in the foster care system that have no families,” Britta argued back. “But you went after the kid that liked Spider-Man and had no dad. Don’t act like that wasn’t exactly what happened! It was your way of dealing with your problems. You’re preventing him from experiencing the same abandonment issues you do!”

“You could not be further off base. And leave Tyler out of it. He has nothing to do with anything!” Jeff turned away again, but not before he saw Britta smile.

“Whatever you say. But deep down you know I’m right.”

Jeff whirled on her, “I do not have daddy issues!” he shouted across the bed.

“Denial is the first step to acceptance,” Britta explained, rather too smugly for Jeff’s liking.

He couldn’t let her get him worked up. He put on air of nonchalance. “That can’t be right,” he shot back with his own smug smile.

“Say’s the deny-ist.”

“Not a word.”

“You wanna keep digging this hole?” Britta asked, taking on a more serious tone. “Confronting your daddy issues now could prevent you from ending up haunted like Pierce.”

“I’ll never end up like Pierce.”

“Won’t you?” That cocky smile was back. Jeff was growing to hate it.

“No, I’m nothing like him,” he argued back. He was not about to let her think she won. It was against his nature to let Britta win anything.

“Aren’t you?”

She was so frustrating! “Are you gonna keep doing that?”

“Am I?”

“The worst therapist? No, because you're not a therapist.” He really needed to take her down a peg. “Since you're misdiagnosing by a mile, let me point out some differences. Pierce was raised by his dad. Mine took off when I was eight. Pierce spent his whole pathetic life begging for scraps of his father's approval. I moved on. Maybe Pierce needs a dad, I don't.”

She kept on smiling. “Don’t you?”

“Stop that!” Maybe she needed to be taken down several pegs. “Okay, if I need a dad so bad, how come I've had his phone number for three weeks without the slightest urge to call him?” Jeff reached into the waistband of his shorts and produced the yellow slip of paper that had his father’s phone number neatly printed across it. He realized as he watched Britta’s face morph into something akin to hopeful wonderment that maybe in his haste to win he had revealed just a little too much information.

“You found your father?” Britta practically gasped, her eyes wide.

Jeff glanced at the piece of paper. He couldn’t help it. He had to get one more jibe in. “Did I?”

At that Britta launched herself at Jeff, reaching for the phone number, “Give it here!” But she was too slow in her giant ham costume and Jeff stepped back, easily evading her. As Britta crashed onto the bed and struggled to get up, Jeff stepped back again and then took off running, ducking through curtains and heading down the hall. As soon as Britta was on her feet she was chasing after him, screaming to see the number.

Jeff ducked into the nearest open door and locked it behind himself while Britta banged on the door. He turned around expecting more of the same horrendous art deco and found the first room in the whole house that hadn’t made him want to throw up. “So, this is where Pierce has been hiding the taste.” He glanced around and spied a decanter of scotch. He was halfway to pouring himself a glass when he remembered that he was supposed to be taking Tyler trick-or-treating. He wouldn’t have had that much, but maybe it still wasn’t a great idea. He pushed away from the cart with a sigh. Responsibility was a real downer.

He looked around again and spotted a little red notebook lying on a desk nearby. He walked over and opened it to the marked page. And there was the code. 1-9-8-9. “Of course,” he muttered to himself. “Because otherwise it wouldn’t be pointless.”

He wasn’t quite ready to deal with Britta yet, so he wandered as far away from the decanter as the room would allow and sat down, fishing out his phone. Moments later, Britta was knocking on the door again. Rather incessantly. “Britta, while I applaud your gentle approach to psychoanalysis,” he called in the direction of the door, “I’m not gonna talk about it!”

The knocking continued. Then turned into heavy pounding. “Hey! Cut it out!” he shouted, getting to his feet. He strode angrily over to the door and wrenched it open “You’re gonna break the… door…” There was no one there. The hallway was completely deserted. Jeff had barely processed that when the knocking continued, only this time it was coming from behind him. From within the room. The whole room began to rattle. The glass bottles on the drink cart were clinking together loudly and the paintings on the wall shook. A vase worked its way off a table and went crashing to the floor. Jeff cast around, confused, looking for the source of the commotion, when suddenly the painting of Cornelius that hung above the mantle began to swell and expand like a balloon was inflating behind it. The man’s eyes started to glow and Jeff didn’t stick around to see what happened after that.

He rushed from the room, power walking away from what he had just witnessed. He was trying to rationalize that it couldn’t be a ghost but the adrenaline pumping through his veins had him thinking less than rationally.

He passed Britta on his way down the hall. She leaned calmly against a wall and sneered at him as he went by, “Well, look who came crawling back.”

Jeff didn’t slow down. He didn’t even give her a cursory glance. “Not crawling, walking. Quite briskly. Follow.”

He heard her jump up and gallop after him. It took her a few seconds to catch up. She was almost jogging to keep pace with him. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t believe in ghosts,” Jeff said.

“Okay, but what -”

“I tell you this so that you understand what I mean when I say, this place is horrifying and some very messed up, haunted-type crap is happening. Either Pierce or Cornelius is trying to scare us to death.”

“What?” Her voice dripped with skepticism. She reached out and grabbed Jeff’s arm, slowing him down. “Jeff, you said you don’t believe in ghosts.”

Behind Britta, the wall started stretching, a shape protruding out of it. “Explain that, then,” He said wide-eyed, pointing behind her. She spun around and gasped. They were both staring at the wall in aberrant curiosity when suddenly the shape morphed into a face, pushing its way toward them. They both screamed and took off running full tilt. Within moments they’d run headfirst into their also screaming friends. One quick wordless conversation later and they were all barreling towards the foyer where the panic room was.

“Alright, Pierce, turn off your haunted house!” Jeff shouted at the door while Troy booted up the Telecom. When the screen loaded, there was Pierce, lying flat on the floor of the panic room, dead. The sight of Pierce lying there made Jeff instinctively look around for Tyler. Another thing the kid didn’t need to see. He glanced down at his side where Tyler usually stood, but he wasn’t there. He looked around at the group gathered at the telecom, but Tyler was nowhere to be seen. “Tyler?” He called.

He spun in a circle scanning the room, his heart suddenly pounding so much harder than it had been when he thought he was being chased by a ghost. He reached out and grabbed Annie by the shoulders, “Where’s Tyler?”

Annie’s eyes were wide, “I don’t know. I was looking for the notebook and when I turned around he and Abed were gone! We’ve been looking but we can’t find them.”

Jeff was frozen like that, holding onto Annie for half a second before he was spinning around again and shouting, “Tyler!” If he weren’t so panicked, the strength of his reaction would have taken him off guard.

“Jeff!” Shirley called to him. “Calm down. I’m sure he’s with Abed! He’s fine.”

“He’s missing and you’re telling me to be calm?” Jeff snapped back angrily. He started to move away from the group, intending to turn this whole house upside down until he’d found the kid, but his forward progress was stopped by Pierce who suddenly popped up from around the corner.

“Gotcha!” Pierce yelled, causing everyone but Jeff to scream. “I totally had you guys convinced I was dead!”

“Shut up!” Jeff shouted, practically shoving the older man out of the way. “Tyler!”

He’d taken three more steps when Abed came jogging around the corner holding a VHS tape in one hand and towing Tyler along with the other.

Jeff’s heart dropped into his stomach and he rushed forward scooping Tyler up into his arms, holding him tight to his chest. Tyler was absolutely fine, but Jeff was certain he had just suffered a mild heart attack.

He heard the others conversing behind him, something about Pierce faking the haunted house, but it was like his mind was no longer picking up their frequency. They sounded like static, like background noise. His mind was reeling. The night had taken such a strange turn for him. As he stood there with Tyler in his arms, he was beginning to realize with unexpected clarity that he hadn’t actually thought of himself as a parent until just this moment. Legally, of course, that’s what he was, but he’d only been thinking of himself as someone that was responsible for keeping Tyler alive. A kind of caretaker or an older brother, maybe. Not his parent, not his father. But in this moment, he suddenly understood why his mother had gotten so hysterical when he used to hide from her in the clothing racks at the store, why she panicked so badly when he had only been missing for a minute or two, because he had just experienced it himself.

“Jeff,” Tyler groaned as he squirmed against Jeff’s hold, wanting to be let down. But Jeff kept him in his arms. He didn’t want to put him down just yet.

“I didn’t know where you were,” Jeff muttered, staring at the wall with wide eyes, totally overwhelmed by what was happening to him right now. He was minutely aware that they had an audience, but he didn’t much care.

“I was with Abed. I didn’t wander off or anything.”

“I know,” Jeff said. “You didn’t do anything wrong. But I got scared anyway.”

Tyler finally managed to push himself away from Jeff enough that they could look each other in the eye. Tyler studied him for a moment before asking, “Why?”

“I didn’t know where you were,” Jeff said again, his heartbeat finally slowing to a more reasonable rate. “I was afraid you were lost or that something had happened to you.”

“But I was with Abed,” Tyler repeated and Jeff smiled.

“I know. I got all worried for nothing. I just like knowing where you are, is all. I care about you.”

They stood there, silently regarding each other for a long moment as the truth of that statement sunk in for them both.

Behind him somebody cleared their throat and the moment was gone. He finally let Tyler down, but kept a tight hold on his hand. He wasn’t too keen on having Tyler out of his sight anytime soon. He turned to see Shirley standing there smiling at him. “I’m glad Tyler’s okay.”

“Yeah, me, too,” Jeff breathed. “Sorry I snapped at you. I don’t know what happened. I just kind of…” He trailed off.

Shirley smiled understandingly at him and nodded. “I’ve got kids. I know how it is.” Shirley reached out and patted him gently on the shoulder as she moved past him, joining the group as they made their way to the exit.

Annie came up to him next, her smile guilty. “Sorry I ruined your night,” She apologized.

“Actually, Pierce ruined my night,” Jeff replied with a smile, “But you were right to let him.”

“You still wanna go to the party?” she asked hopefully. “I heard Vicki bought dry ice and gave Leonard the wrong address.”

“Uh, I’ll take a pass,” Jeff said and he didn’t miss her disappointed look. “I have some unfinished business at home.”

Annie smiled and nodded, but with a hint of curiosity in her blue eyes. They turned and walked out of the mansion together, Jeff still holding on to Tyler’s hand.

* * *

 

On their way back to the apartment, Jeff had just enough time to take Tyler out for the quickest treat-or-treat run known to man. They hit a couple neighborhoods near the apartment complex, sprinting and driving from house to house. While not the most conventional way to trick-or-treat, they had a blast and Tyler scored a pretty decent amount of candy.

At home, they sat on the floor in front of the TV and watched _Halloweentown_ on Disney Channel while going through Tyler’s modest haul.

“What’s your favorite candy?” Tyler asked as he picked out all the Tootsie Rolls from his pile and set them to the side.

Jeff thought about it for a moment. “I like Dots,” he said, pointing to the small yellow box in the middle of the pile. “What’s yours?”

Tyler smiled and grabbed the box, tossing it to Jeff, “I like Tootsie Rolls. That’s why I’m picking them out. I want to save them for last.”

Jeff caught the box and immediately opened it up, popping a green gumdrop into his mouth, “I never was a fan of those,” he said. “I always expected them to taste more like chocolate. They just kinda tasted like sugar. Weird sugar.”

“You mean they just kinda taste awesome!” Tyler replied, sticking out his tongue playfully.

Jeff grinned and leaned forward, “Can you even eat those Tootsie Rolls with your tooth missing like that?” he teased. “Maybe I should just take these off your hands.” Jeff reached out to grab a handful of the brown wrappered candies but Tyler squealed and flung his body on top of the pile, preventing Jeff from getting to it.

“I can eat just fine!” Tyler laughed.

“If you say so,” Jeff said, sitting up straight. “Let me know if it gets too difficult for you. I can help you eat all this if you need me to.”

“Not a chance,” Tyler said, sticking his tongue out again, only this time he poked it through the gap of his missing front tooth. The sight was so funny and took Jeff so off guard that he fell over laughing.

Tyler stayed up as late as he could manage, but before the Piper siblings had even gotten all the ingredients to power the talisman and save Halloweentown, Tyler was out cold. Jeff scooped the boy up and carried him off to bed, tucking him into his Spider-Man sheets. He clicked on his nightlight and shut the door behind him.

Jeff watched to the end of the movie and then busied himself cleaning up the mess of candy wrappers strewn on the floor. He stored Tyler’s candy in the kitchen, making sure to keep his beloved Tootsie Rolls separate. After that had all been squared away, Jeff sighed. He couldn’t put it off any longer. He made his way into his bedroom and shut the door with a quiet click. He sat down heavily on the edge of his bed and pulled out that yellow scrap of paper and his phone. Jeff took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then dialed William Winger’s phone number. 

 


	5. November

**November**                  

Today was one of those rare days that Jeff had the apartment all to himself. Tyler was at a friend’s house for the afternoon and Jeff was excited to watch something on TV other than _Adventure Time_.                  

He got the mail before unlocking the door and stepping into his blissfully empty apartment. He immediately grabbed a beer from the fridge and flopped himself down on the couch. He found the remote and put the TV on _SportsCenter_ before going through his mail. He set the bills to the side and studied the Manilla envelop that had been at the bottom of the stack. It was from his mother.                 

He opened it and pulled out a small collection of photos. The first three were some of the posed pictures that Doreen had made them take on the couch that day they had visited her, but the last two were of Jeff and Tyler on the floor together playing with Jeff’s old toys. She had taken them without him noticing. Jeff found himself smiling at the pictures, despite his remembered annoyance over the forced photo shoot.                 

An hour later Jeff stepped back to admire his handiwork. Two of the pictures, in brand new frames, now adorned the wall above his TV. He got out his phone, dialed the number, and pressed it to his ear.                 

“Hello?”                 

“Hey, Mom,” he greeted. “Just calling to thank you for sending me those pictures. They turned out great.”                 

“I’m so glad you like them!” Doreen replied.                 

“Speaking of pictures, did you get the ones I sent you of our Halloween costumes?”                 

“I did!” Doreen laughed. “I’ve been showing them off to all the ladies at work. You two looked so handsome.”                 

“Well, I certainly thought so,” Jeff agreed with a grin.

* * *

 

Jeff woke up to the sound of Tyler screaming. He sat straight up in bed and fumbled for the pull cord on his bedside lamp. “Tyler?” He called, hastily switching on the light and getting out of bed. He got to Tyler’s room as quickly as he physically could.                  

When he opened the door, Tyler was sitting bolt upright in bed, eyes wide and terrified. “Tyler?” Jeff asked, approaching slowly. “What’s wrong?”                 

Tyler’s breath hitched in his throat.                 

“Did you have a bad dream?” Jeff asked, sitting down on the edge of his bed.                 

Tyler nodded silently a couple of times before the tears started. Suddenly he was sobbing and Jeff was momentarily taken aback. He started to panic before he found himself instinctively reaching for Tyler and pulling him into his lap. Tyler curled up against him, and buried his face in the front of Jeff’s shirt.                  

“You’re alright,” Jeff whispered to him. “You’re alright.”                 

After a while, Tyler seemed to calm down. He stopped crying and his breathing slowed. Eventually he sat up and wiped his cheeks, avoiding Jeff’s eyes.                 

“Do you think you can sleep now?” Jeff asked gently, trying to meet Tyler’s eyes. Tyler didn’t answer. Instead he reached out and grabbed onto Jeff’s wrist tightly. He didn’t want Jeff to leave.                 

Jeff had to swallow past a strange lump in his throat before he could speak. “Would you – Do you think you could sleep if you slept in my bed?”                 

Tyler nodded and climbed back into Jeff’s lap, wrapping his little arms around Jeff’s shoulders. Jeff lifted him up and carried him into his room, setting him down on the bed and turning off the light. When Jeff climbed into bed, Tyler rolled so that his forehead was pressed against Jeff’s chest. Jeff was momentarily at a loss of what to do. Before, when Tyler was crying, he had just known how to comfort him. But now he wasn’t sure what to do. He settled for resting his hand against Tyler’s arm and using his thumb to rub back and forth in a way he hoped was soothing. 

Soon Tyler was asleep, but no such luck for Jeff. He knew without even trying that he was going to be unable to fall back to sleep.

* * *

Jeff pulled into Shirley’s driveway and yawned. He’d barely slept last night. Tyler had been able to go right back to sleep after the nightmare ordeal, but not Jeff. He just couldn’t seem to shut his brain down enough to get any decent rest.                  

“Alright,” Jeff said as he and Tyler got out of the car and made their way to the Bennett’s front door. “Can we make this quick and painless? Eat, make polite conversation, and then get the Hell out of here. No begging to stay longer again, got it?”                 

“Got it,” Tyler replied with a smile. Jeff eyed the boy, suspecting strongly that Tyler would not end up sticking to the plan.                 

He reached out to knock on the door, but before his knuckles could connect, the door sprang open revealing a crowd that seemingly contained everyone he knew. “Surprise!” They all shouted in unison.                 

“Um, what?” Jeff stood there in shocked confusion.                 

“Happy Birthday!” Shirley and Annie cheered from the front of the group.                 

“Why?” Jeff complained, letting his shoulders droop.                 

“Could you just pretend to enjoy your birthday for once and let us celebrate?” Annie chastised, reaching out and grabbing the front of his shirt, dragging him across the threshold where he was immediately assaulted by people hugging him and wishing him a happy birthday.                 

He looked around to find Tyler grinning at him from Shirley’s arms. He handed Jeff a handmade card covered in his half-legible scrawl then leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Jeff’s neck, “I knew the whole time!” He laughed. “Happy Birthday, Jeff!”                 

Jeff rolled his eyes but couldn’t hold back his smile. Okay, maybe this wasn’t all bad.                  

Jeff must have been much more tired than he’d thought he was. As consciousness returned to him, he realized he must have fallen asleep on Shirley’s couch. His first concern upon waking was stretching his stiff neck. Getting old was Hell. His second concern quickly became his primary one when he heard Pierce’s voice telling a story. He realized with horror which story he was telling and who exactly he was telling it to.                 

“… And that’s when I realized that the woman who had me pinned to the wall of this tiny airplane bathroom was none other than the great Eartha Kitt!” Pierce was saying to Tyler, who was sitting in his lap and listening closely. “So then I -”                 

“Oh, no.” Jeff said, jumping to his feet. “No, nope.” He snatched Tyler off of the older man’s lap, “And then he gave her a polite handshake and they never saw each other again. The end.” He tucked the boy under his arm like a football and strode out of the room.                 

“What?” Pierce shouted as they left. “It came up organically!”                 

Jeff marched into the kitchen where the rest of his friends were gathered together, talking. “Who let Pierce babysit?” He demanded.                 

“Well, I -” Shirley began.                 

“Well, don’t.” Jeff interrupted. He set Tyler down, “Go play,” he said, gently pushing him towards the dining room where Jordan and Elijah were.                 

Jeff straightened and turned to his friends, “I just woke up to Pierce telling my kid the Eartha Kitt story.”                 

“Oh,” Everyone flinched.                 

“Exactly.”                 

“Maybe that’s what you get for falling asleep. Serious party foul, Winger,” Britta teased.                 

“A.” Jeff said, turning to her. “It’s my party. B. Shut up.”                 

“Grouchy today, aren’t we?”                 

Jeff sighed and leaned against the nearest wall, “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” An unplanned yawn punctuated his sentence nicely.                 

A loud bang emanated from the dining room and the sounds of children playing stuttered to a halt. Shirley turned towards the noise. “Do not make me come in there,” She threatened.

“Sorry, Momma!” Her two boys called in unison.                 

“Sorry, Shirley!” Tyler echoed.                 

“Maybe we should go check on them,” Abed said, pointing in the direction of the dining room.                 

“Yes, maybe we should,” Troy agreed. “Excuse us.” They both disappeared through the doorway, clearly just going to join in on the fun they had been missing out on.                 

Shirley turned to Jeff, her voice back to its normal, sweet intonation, “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have made you stay this long if I’d known you were so tired.”                 

Jeff waved it off, “It’s fine. It’s a great party. Actually,” He leaned towards her and dropped his voice, “I’m glad I’m here. I was kind of hoping to talk to you.” He nodded towards the hallway to indicate that she should follow him.

They stepped into the hallway and Jeff leaned against the wall with a sigh. Shirley moved so that she was across from him, leaning against the opposite wall.

“I couldn’t sleep because Tyler had a nightmare last night,” Jeff stated, avoiding Shirley’s gaze by focusing on the floor.

“Aw, poor thing,” Shirley said, sympathetically.

Jeff shook his head. “It was awful. He woke up screaming. I don’t even know what he was dreaming about. I was afraid to ask. I didn’t want to, I don’t know, make it worse or something.” Jeff ran his hands over his face. “This is hard, Shirley. How do you do it? How do you take care of a little person? I just thought it was keeping a kid alive, but it’s not. It’s more than that. It’s caring for a little _person_ that has his own personality and history and… He was so upset. And I didn’t know what to do. I never know what I’m doing. And I never know if what I end up doing is right!”

Shirley gave him a loving smile, “Jeff, you’re doing fine. The truth is, no one ever knows what they’re doing. Andre and I surely don’t. You just have to trust your instincts. Go with your gut. It’s not easy, but I’ve found that the things in life most worth doing rarely are.”

“That was just vague enough to be frustrating.”

Shirley laughed. “I’m sorry. I wish I could give you the Magic Book of Parenting, but it hasn’t been written yet.”

“That’s okay. I probably wouldn’t have read it anyway,” Jeff said with a grin.

“Ow! Stop hitting so hard!” Jordan’s muffled voice shouted from the other room.

“You hit first!” Tyler’s voice shouted back.

There was another loud bang followed by children yelling in unison:

“Momma!”

“Jeff!”

Jeff closed his eyes and turned his body towards the kitchen door, taking a dramatically deep, steadying breath.

“Go on, Papa Winger. You got this,” Shirley said, giving him a little push.

* * *

 

Jeff knelt in front of Tyler and adjusted his jacket. They’d gone out and bought him a nice new shirt to wear to Thanksgiving dinner, and Jeff just wanted to make sure it looked alright with the jacket he already owned. He wished Tyler would let him dress him more often. The clothes Jeff picked out made him look like a little model.                 

“We’re going to see your dad tomorrow, right?” Tyler asked.                 

“That is correct,” Jeff responded, Tyler’s clothes still capturing most of his attention.                 

“What do I call him? Grandpa?”                 

“No. Probably not. Call him William, I guess. That’s what I’m going to call him.” Jeff looked him over once more and clapped him on both arms. “That jacket is perfect with this shirt. We’ll have to remember to take a picture for Grandma tomorrow or she’ll kill me.” Jeff nodded to himself, “Alright, go get changed.”                 

Jeff stood up and got out his phone to check his notifications, but Tyler stayed where he was.                 

“Are you nervous?” Tyler asked.                 

“Why would I be nervous?” Jeff asked without looking up from his phone.                 

“Britta said you hadn’t seen your dad in a long time.”                 

“I haven’t seen him since I was eight.”                 

“Why?”                 

Jeff huffed, and turned away, pretending to go through some mail that was piled on the bar’s counter behind him. “Uh, he, uh, left. He went away and didn’t come back.” Jeff explained uncomfortably.                 

“Like my dad,” Tyler stated simply. “He didn’t want to be my dad anymore.”                 

Jeff spun around in surprise and locked eyes with Tyler. “Right. Like your dad.”                 

Tyler nodded once and then turned to head for his room and get changed like he was asked.                 

“Hey, Tyler…” Jeff said suddenly, his voice surprising him. He wasn’t aware that he had even decided to speak until the words were at his lips. “You know that has nothing to do with you, right? Your father’s choice was because of him. Not you.”                 

Tyler turned around and met Jeff’s eyes. They stood there like that, watching each other from across the room for a long time until the spell was broken by Jeff’s ringing phone. He looked down to check the number and when he looked back up, Tyler had already disappeared into his room. **  
**

* * *

 Jeff pulled into the Buck Hill Townhomes parking lot, and parked next to shiny classic car. It was a beige Mercedes convertible that was very well taken care of. The front license plate read “winginit”, which made Jeff scoff. He helped Tyler out of the backseat and they made their way to the correct apartment.

Jeff reached out to knock on the door and completely froze. He had been so confident. And now all he could think about was what Britta had said in school on Friday and how much he did not want to have to deal with any of that. He did not want things to get weird and emotional. He didn’t do emotional. So, he did the only sane thing he could think to do. He ran.                 

Jeff spun around and snatched Tyler up, placing him against his hip, and hightailed it back to his car.                 

“Where are we going?” Tyler asked as he squirmed to get down.                 

Jeff opened the back door of his car and set Tyler in the backseat, buckling him up. “I can do that by myself,” Tyler complained. “Where are we going?” He asked again.                 

“I realized that I forgot something. We have to go back home.”                 

“But we just got here!” Tyler whined as Jeff shut the door.                 

“I know,” Jeff said, climbing into the front seat and starting the engine.                  

Two miles away from Buck Hill, Jeff started to feel weak. He pulled up Britta’s phone number on the screen in his car and hit ‘Call’. The sound of ringing came through the speakers.

Britta answered on the second ring. “Hey, Jeff. What’s up?”                 

“What’s up is closure,” he said in the cockiest voice he could muster. “I met my dad and we talked things out as men. I think I'm ready to move on.”                 

“Really? In twenty minutes?” Came Britta’s disbelieving reply.                 

Jeff groaned inwardly, “Fine. Look, I couldn’t do it. I was at the front door, totally in control, and then I started thinking about all that stuff you said about messiness and… It threw me off my game. You know, the irony is after all your pestering that I deal with my daddy issues, you're the reason I'm not meeting my father.”                 

“Or maybe I'm the reason you'll come here after all.”                 

Jeff grinned. He loved putting her in her place. “Britta, I -” Suddenly his face fell. “Wait. What do you mean by ‘here’?”                 

“Your dad’s house,” she said nervously. “Where I kinda sorta am…”                 

Jeff’s whole brain was screaming. He opened his mouth and nothing came out.                 

“Jeff?” Britta asked.                 

“I guess I’m coming back,” Jeff finally said, frustration coloring his voice. “See you in a few.”                 

Jeff hung up the phone and inhaled deeply through his nose. He gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, and then turned around.                 

“We’re going back?” Tyler asked from the backseat.                 

“Yep,” Jeff answered stiffly. “Britta is there. So we have to.”                 

“Okay. That’s good. I like Britta.”                 

“That makes one of us,” Jeff muttered under his breath.                 

When Jeff pulled back into his previously vacated parking spot, Britta was already standing outside waiting for him. He glared at her.                 

“Happy Thanksgiving?” she said it like a question.                 

“Happy Thanksgiving!” Tyler shouted, bounding over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist.                 

“Hey, kiddo. Glad someone’s happy to see me.”                 

Jeff ignored the exchange and strode right past them, headed for the door. “You really you’d this one, huh?” He shot at Britta as he passed.                 

“Okay, yes, I meddled against your wishes,” she admitted as she and Tyler followed him, “And yes, I got this address from the Dean. But, hey! You had a moment of doubt, and here I am to help you through it. Psychology tells us there are no accidents.”                 

He angrily turned to her, “Oh, really? What about car accidents, Tara Reid, or the Hindenburg?”                 

He turned back to the door and took a steadying breath. “Here goes nothing.” He whispered and brought his fist up to knock on the door, his heart in his throat.                 

When the door opened, there was his father, in the flesh. He was older than the way Jeff remembered him. He had wrinkles and grey hair, but it was definitely him. “Hello, William,” He greeted.                 

“Jeff,” William responded with a curt nod.                 

Jeff cleared his throat, “Oh, um, this is Tyler.” Jeff put his hand on Tyler’s shoulder, moving him to where William could see him. William’s eyebrows shot up in surprise but he made no comment. “And I guess you already met Britta,” Jeff said, by way of introduction, unable to keep his tone free of annoyance.                 

“Yes, well, come in,” William said, standing aside to let them pass.                 

The three of them walked into the townhome awkwardly. An uncomfortable silence stretched between them. Jeff stood in the foyer and looked around. The house was decorated with a very western feel. Lots of wood and earth tones. The shelves were packed with knick-knacks.                 

William closed the door behind them and turned around, walking straight up to Jeff. Britta took Tyler by the hand and led him off to the side, presumably to give Jeff and William space to talk. “So, uh, how about we make a couple of ground rules?” William suggested.                 

“Actually, that sounds good,” Jeff agreed. “Okay. No hugs.”                 

“Wouldn't want one,” William replied easily. “No apologies.”                 

“Wouldn't accept one. No calling you ‘dad.’”                 

“No expectations.”                 

“No BS,” Jeff finished. Looks like they were on the same page. Turns out he’d had nothing to be worried about in the first place. That’s what he got for letting other people get involved.

“Drink?” William offered.                 

Oh, what the hell. It was a holiday. “Scotch,” Jeff answered with a smile.                 

“Eighteen?” William was smiling, too.                 

“Neat.”                 

But of course, Britta was still there, so: “I just want to acknowledge there are a lot of emotions flowing right now,” she interjected, taking a step towards them, clearly not satisfied with the exchange she had just witnessed. “And You two are probably feeling a strong impulse to sleep with each other, and hey, that's normal.”                 

Jeff widened his eyes are her. What the actual Hell was her problem?                 

“Wow,” William sighed, shooting Jeff a look. “I’ll get the drinks.”                 

Jeff stepped towards Britta and smirked, “So, how about that?” he asked quietly. “No muss, no fuss.”                 

“Jeff, I urge you not to run from the muss and fuss,” Britta pleaded.                 

Out of the corner of his eye, Jeff saw someone seated on the staircase off to his right. “Hi,” the figure said.                 

“Hi,” Jeff responded, stepping towards the man. He was younger and heavier set than Jeff, but they had the same brown hair. “You must be my half-brother.”                 

Jeff politely extended his hand and the other man nervously stepped up to shake it. “Your hands are so much bigger than mine,” he commented. “Your nail beds are perfect.” The man stepped away and threw his hands up in defeat, “I can't do it. I can't. Oh, God. Oh, it's coming up.” His face grew red and Jeff backed away from him, eyebrows creeping towards his hairline. “When I get upset, I vomit,” The red-faced man explained.                 

“Oh, I see you've met Willy, Jr.,” William said as he stepped back into the room, holding two glasses of amber liquid.                 

“You said he wasn't gonna replace me,” Willy, Jr. shouted accusatorily at William. Jeff stood there between them, unsure of what else to do but watch. “He's the Schwarzenegger. I'm the DeVito. I get it,” Willy said with a laugh, and turned to head up the stairs, away from everyone else.                 

“Okay, fellas, let's get right into it,” Britta said, hopping right on in. “I think the big question on everyone's mind is…” She hesitated at their expressions. “Why don't I go help Willy, Jr., hm?” she finished and bounded up the stairs after Jeff’s half-brother.                 

William handed Jeff his glass, and Jeff took it gratefully. He waited until Britta was gone before speaking, “Sorry about her. She just… Sorry about her.”                 

William waved it off and gestured for Jeff to have a seat on the couch.                  

Jeff looked around for Tyler. “Hey, buddy,” He called to him. Tyler had apparently been watching the whole exchange from somewhere near the door. Jeff inclined his head in the direction of the couch, “Why don’t you come sit with us.” Tyler slowly moved around the back of the couch and sat next to Jeff. “Did you bring your Game Boy thing?” Jeff asked him, when he nodded, Jeff continued, “You can play it if want. It’s gonna be pretty boring until we eat.”                 

Tyler quietly got out his DS and powered it up, slipping a pair of headphones over his ears. Within seconds he was completely immersed.                  

“Is he yours?” William asked, nodding at Tyler.                 

Jeff sat back on the couch and brought his glass to his lips, “In the legal sense, yes,” Jeff answered. He hated questions like that. The expected answer was too black and white. He and Tyler were complicated.                 

“Hm.” Was William’s only response to that.                 

An awkward moment of silence passed between them, during which Britta and Willy came back downstairs. They talked in hushed tones and got to work setting the table for dinner. Jeff finally broke the silence. If he was going be here, he might as well get some use out of it. “So, how are you doing?” He asked. “You know, medically. It’d be nice to have a heads up on any potential health issues in my future.”                 

“I’m fit as a fiddle,” William chuckled. “No cancer or anything in the family, not that I know of anyway. Both of my parents had arthritis, though. Let's see, what else? You've got some diabetes on my mother's side.”                 

“Good to know,” Jeff said with a nod. “I like your hair. The presence of it, I mean.”                 

William smiled and brushed at his hair proudly.                 

Jeff leaned forward and set his glass down. “So, I have a question. It's been weighing on me pretty heavily.” William leaned in to, matching his pose and looking worried.                 

Jeff glanced over at Tyler to make sure he wasn’t listening in and lowered his voice, “At your age, in the bedroom…”                 

“Oh, yeah. It's – It’s all good. Yeah, real good.”                 

Jeff let out a small breath of relief and they both sat back again.                 

They took a few silent sips of scotch before William asked, “So, what do you do?”                 

Jeff smiled proudly. He enjoyed telling this story. “I'm a lawyer who faked a bachelor's degree and practiced law for seven years before I got caught.”                  

William laughed, “I like your hustle. Reminds me of the summer I was Ralph Lauren.” Jeff’s eyebrows shot up in interest. “Now, Saint-Tropez, '83. I'm on a boat with -” Suddenly a dinner roll came flying from the direction of the table and pegged him right in the back of the head. “Damn it, Willy.” William growled, twisting around to look at his son.                 

“I’m expressing!” Willy explained heatedly.                 

“Knock it off. Why can't you just swallow it like any normal person?” William shot back.                 

Jeff glanced over towards the table and caught Britta’s eye. Her whole expression said, ‘yikes’. Jeff couldn’t agree more. He looked over at Tyler who had taken off his headphones and was watching the commotion with wide, curious eyes.                 

“Oh! Right, like your new son,” Willy shouted, gesturing to Jeff, “Like Mr. - Mr. I've-Got-My-Shirt –” He stuttered for a moment before looking at Jeff. “I don't know any personal details about you yet,” he explained, still angry.                 

“Well, my name’s Jeff.”                 

“Don’t help me! Mr. Helper-Guy. First Mom dies, now this?”                 

“Hey, she died twenty years ago, Willy,” William argued back, looking apologetically at Jeff. “He keeps singing the same old song.”                 

“Oh. She died on you,” Jeff said, suddenly understanding their dynamic. “Here I thought you'd become Father-of-the-Year, but you just got stuck.”                 

“Yeah, well, look, I don't have to tell you, I'm not a natural caretaker,” William explained, “But with Willy, you know, I checked all the boxes and he still turned out softer than wet cheese. I don't get it. He keeps saying he's gonna move out next week since '03.”                 

“Oh, man, I couldn't wait to get out. I got my own place when I was eighteen,” Jeff said.                 

William smiled in response, “I was the same way.”                 

They shared a strange moment. Despite having had zero contact for the past thirty-one years, they had a surprising number of similarities.                 

“So, who’s ready to eat,” William announced standing up. “Jeff, you care to carve the turkey?”                 

Jeff took one last sip of his drink and stood up, too, but before they could move to the table, Willy was shouting again. “I knew it! You love him more than me. I'll show you. I'll run away.”

William marched over to where Willy stood, “Oh, please. Hey, be my guest. You run away, and I'm gonna sleep like a baby tonight!”                 

Willy whimpered and stomped away, heading upstairs and shooting Jeff one last dirty look as he went.                 

“Oh, now, I'm sorry you guys had to see that,” William apologized. He turned to Britta with a shrug, “But maybe you could shrink his head, since you're here, for some reason.” William disappeared into the kitchen leaving Jeff and Britta face to face.                 

“Yes,” Britta nodded and looked at Jeff with confidence. “I can do this.” She snatched a piece of bread from the table and took off up the stairs after Willy. “Show me on the dinner roll where you're hurt!”                 

Jeff took a moment to feel sorry for Willy then let it pass. Willy didn’t seem to find her as annoying as he did. Maybe he just didn’t know her well enough yet.                 

Jeff looked over at Tyler, who was still sitting on the couch with his headphones around his neck, watching the proceedings with cautious curiosity. Jeff made his way over to the kid and crouched down next to him. “Sorry about all the yelling. Family, huh?” Jeff grinned jokingly, but Tyler didn’t smile back. “I promise next year won’t be like this. Ready to eat?”                 

Tyler quietly put away his DS and followed Jeff to the table.                 

Britta and Willy didn’t come back downstairs for dinner, so it was just the three of them at the table. Conversation stayed light. William got to finish his Ralph Lauren anecdote and Jeff got to recount the story putting Alan Connor in his place during summer session.                 

“And that's when I told my old firm to shove it,” He finished. “I've always been more of a free agent anyway.”                 

“Yeah, I can see that about you. You seem like a self-made man,” William said.                 

Jeff played with the rim of his wine glass, “Well, I kind of had to be.”                 

“Look, if it's okay with you, I'd like to break a rule. I know we said no mushy stuff,” Jeff dropped his gaze to the table, “But for what it's worth, I'm proud of you.”                 

Jeff raised his eyes to meet William’s, “Wow, thanks.” His appreciation of the compliment was genuine, but it still made him uncomfortable.                 

“Makes you think, huh?”                 

“Wait, what do you mean?”                 

“Well, look, I mean, you've seen how Willy turned out. I mean, I haven't done that kid any favors,” William explained. “And so I look at you, so self-reliant and well-adjusted, and I think maybe I did something right.”                 

Jeff set his jaw, “You? Did something right?”                 

William smiled, “Well, let me say that different.” He cast around for inspiration, “Uh, the universe is a constantly expanding –”                 

“Stop,” Jeff cut him off. “I get the impulse, but that’s not gonna work here.” He said with a shake of his head.                 

“No, I just mean that we are defined by what happens to us,” William said, sitting forward in his chair. “And me leaving seems to have made you independent, made you strong.”                 

Jeff’s voice was low and cold when he responded, “With all due respect, which is none, go to Hell.” He stood up roughly from the table, “Come on, Tyler. We’re going.”                 

Tyler ran to grab his stuff and then hurried ahead of Jeff into the parking lot. Jeff shut the door firmly behind them and stomped to the car. He was distracted enough that he didn’t notice Willy in the backseat of his Lexus until he’d already opened the door.                 

“Gah! What are you doing in my car?” He shouted in surprise, tugging Tyler away from the vehicle, just in case his half-brother turned out to be a touch psychotic.                 

“Take me with you,” Willy pleaded. “Teach me what you know.”                 

“What in the Cat’s Cradle is happening?”                 

“Dad hates me!” Willy’s shouted explanation made Jeff clench his fists.                 

“Why do you care what that guy thinks?” Jeff growled. “He’s a dick.”                 

“See? That's what I need to learn. How to be all dead inside with muscles on top, not all emotional and flabby.” Willy dropped his gaze and poked out his lip, looking as pathetic as he sounded.                 

Jeff closed his eyes in frustration. “Yeah, but you are emotional. If you pretend you're not, you're letting him off the hook for being a terrible father, which he is and always has been. I mean, he meant the world to you, and you meant _nothing_ to him, and if you run away now, he'll never know.” At some point that had stopped being about Willy and had started being about Jeff. “He should know. Britta's the worst.”                 

Jeff groaned loudly and spun around, marching back up to William’s door.                 

“Jeff?” Tyler called, running after him. “We’re going back again?”                 

Jeff didn’t answer. He just strode into his father’s house without knocking. Tyler stayed close on his heels. Willy stepped in behind them and shut the door.                 

“You came back!” Britta called with relief.                 

Jeff ignored her and walked right up to William who stood outside the kitchen, holding the empty wine glasses from the dining room table. “I'm sorry. You should take some credit for who I've become.”                 

“Okay,” William responded hesitantly.                 

“So, let me tell you how I turned out just so you're crystal clear on _your_ impact. I am _not_ well-adjusted. More often than not, I am barely keeping it together. Your impact was a hole through the center of me and I filled it so full of sarcasm and ego that there’s barely room for anything else. There are people in my life now that love me. And no matter how many times I push them away, they just keep hugging me. And instead of letting them love me and instead of letting them get close, I argue and I roll my eyes, or I just stare at my phone. I'm constantly texting, and there's no one at the other end. I'm just a grown man who can't even look his own friends in the eye for too long because I'm afraid that they'll see that I am broken, and empty, and sad. That they’ll see how much I need them. So, you get credit for that.”                 

“Oh, come on, now -” William started to argue, but Jeff just kept going.                 

“One time, when I was in seventh grade, I told everybody at school that I had appendicitis. I wanted someone to worry about me. But when Beth Brannon asked to see the scar, I didn't wanna get found out, so I took Mom's scissors, and I made one. It hurt like Hell, _but_ it was worth it, because I got seventeen cards. And I still keep them in a box underneath my bed twenty-two years later because it proves that someone, at some point, cared about me even if I had to lie and cut myself to prove it. You wanna see the scar?” Jeff lifted the right hem of his shirt to reveal the short, raised scar just above his hip bone. “So, you get credit for that, too. This is me. This is your legacy.” He gestured to Willy, Jr. behind him and then to himself. “Two lost sons who wanted your love so badly that they forgot how to love themselves or anyone else. This is my legacy.” Jeff pointed to Tyler. “I have a son, too. And I refuse to make your mistakes. I love him and I will make sure he knows that. I will make sure he feels that every day for the rest of my life. I will make sure that I don’t leave behind a broken shell of a person like you did.”                 

William shifted uncomfortably, “Look, Jeff, I, uh -” He made a pained noise and doubled over, the wine glasses slipping from his grip and crashing to the floor, shattering to pieces.

“Daddy!” Willy called in a panic, but Jeff stood there watching the display with a humorless expression.                 

“Are you _faking_ a heart attack?” Jeff asked in frustrated disbelief.                 

William stood up and shrugged. “Kind of a Hail Mary.”                 

Jeff sighed, “Happy Thanksgiving, Dad.” He turned and scooped Tyler into his arms and calmly left the house. Britta said a quick goodbye to Willy and followed him out the door. The two of them stopped in front of his car and looked at each other for a long moment before speaking.                  

“Look, you're probably feeling a very strong urge to sleep with me right now, and that is normal,” Jeff teased.                 

“Ch-yah,” Britta said, glancing away.                 

“Britta,” Jeff pulled her attention back to him. “Thank you. You were right.” He paused. “You're not gonna get all Jock Jams on me, are you?”                 

“No, of course not,” Britta replied as if it were a ridiculous notion, then muttered, “I left my boom box at school.”                 

Jeff rolled his eyes. After a slight pause, he shifted Tyler in his arms. “Do you, uh, do you mind giving me a moment alone with Tyler?”                 

Britta gave him a very meaningful smile, “No, of course not. I’ll just wait in the car.” She climbed into the passenger seat and settled back, closing her eyes to give them privacy.                 

Jeff took a steadying breath and leaned back against the hood of his car, setting Tyler on his knee so they’d be eye to eye. The boy was unusually still. Not once did he try to squirm away or ask to be let down. Jeff looked at him for a long moment before speaking, “I’m sorry today was so hectic,” he began. “Believe me when I say, this is not what I intended to happen when I came here.”                 

Tyler didn’t respond. He just blinked patiently up at Jeff.                 

“Look, I don’t know how much of all of that you understood… And maybe one day I’ll explain it, but for right now, all you need to know is that I grew up feeling like nobody cared about me. My father wasn’t there for me and it messed with my head so much that I couldn’t see all the special people in my life.” Jeff took a deep breath. “So, what I need you to understand is this: You are wanted. And you are loved. By Britta, and Abed, and Troy, and Pierce, and Shirley, and Andre, and Annie. By Grandma. And most importantly, by me. I know I don’t ever say it. I promise I’ll get better about that. But it’s true. I chose you. I wanted you. You are my son and I love you.”                 

Tyler stared at him with wide, innocent eyes before reaching out and winding his arms around his neck. Jeff inhaled shakily and wrapped his arms around his son, holding him against his chest. Inside his ribcage, his heart hurt in the best way possible. He hadn’t realized that he’d been keeping his emotions buried like that until he’d been forced to confront his own issues. It felt good to just feel for once instead of keeping it bottled up.                 

After a few moments, he regretfully broke up their embrace. “What do you say we go home now?” Jeff said.                 

Tyler gave him a skeptical look which made Jeff laugh out loud. “For real this time, I promise.”                  

Jeff loaded Tyler into the back, ensuring that he was safely strapped in, and got into the front seat. He started up the car and went to buckle his own seatbelt. He was looking down when a knock on the driver’s side window startled him. He looked up to find Willy practically pressed up against the glass and jumped.                 

“Geez.” He rolled down the window and looked over at the younger man, “You gotta stop doing that.”                 

Willy smiled. “Thanks,” he said with sincerity. “Come here, brother.” He leaned his entire torso into the car to get his arms around Jeff’s shoulders. “Come here, brother!”                 

“Wow. Why don’t you save some for Christmas, buddy?” Jeff said, leaning away from the hug and patting him on the back.                 

Willy eventually extracted himself from Jeff’s car and waved them away. It was a quiet car ride back into town. Jeff dropped Britta off at her place and then continued on to his apartment. By the time they’d pulled into the parking lot, Tyler was fast asleep. Jeff carefully unbuckled him and carried him up to his bed. He made sure the nightlight was on before he tucked him in. Jeff watched him sleep for just a moment before he kissed him on the forehead and silently exited the room, clicking the door shut behind him.

 


	6. December

**December**                  

“I swear! I’m not kidding!” Troy was saying while everyone laughed. “It’s his ringtone now!”                 

“What were the lyrics again?” Britta asked.                 

“’Dean, I wish I was your lover’!”                 

Everyone but Jeff was laughing. The Dean could be endearing sometimes, and Jeff could deal with him up to a point, but this was one of those things he wished he didn’t know. “Alright. Another subject, please. Anybody?”                 

The group had once again managed to force themselves into one of the booths in the Greendale cafeteria despite the fact that they clearly were not meant to fit a group of seven. Jeff was squished between Annie and Pierce on one side, Shirley, Abed, and Troy sat across from them with Britta in a chair at the head of the table.                 

“Well,” Shirley began. “My friend Gary sent me a nice letter from Finland…”                 

“Boo!” Everyone called out.                 

Shirley crossed her arms over her purse with a huff, “Fine, then. Someone else say something.”                  

Jeff’s phone buzzed loudly against table. He glanced down, intending to ignore the call, but he did a double take when he saw the number. It was Tyler’s school. “Huh. I gotta take this,” He said, extracting himself from the booth.                 

Jeff waited until he was a few paces away before raising the phone to his ear, “Hello?”                 

“Hello, is this Mr. Winger?” a female voice asked.                 

“It is.”                 

“Hi. I’m calling in regards to your son, Tyler,” the woman said.                 

“What about him?”                 

Her response made Jeff come to a halt mid-step. “He did _what_?” The woman repeated herself, and Jeff set his jaw. “I understand.” He said stiffly. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

* * *

“Right this way,” the secretary said, opening the office door for Jeff.                 

The door swung inward, revealing a stern looking woman sitting behind a desk. In front of her were two straight-backed wooden chairs, one of which was currently occupied by his son.

Jeff stepped into the room and the woman behind the desk stood up and extended her hand to Jeff, “Hello Mr. Winger. I’m Pat Martin, Tyler’s principal.”                 

Jeff stepped forward and took her hand without speaking. Instead he gave her stiff nod.                 

“Please, have a seat,” she said, gesturing to the unoccupied chair next to Tyler.                 

As Jeff took his seat, the secretary closed the door behind them with a soft click. He looked over at his son next to him. Tyler was sitting with his hands in his lap and his head bowed, his bottom lip between his teeth.                 

“I believe you’ve been informed as to why you’re here,” Ms. Martin said, pulling Jeff’s attention back to her.                 

“I got the gist of it. But I don’t have the details. What happened?”                 

“Apparently there’s been some bullying occurring that we were unaware of.”                 

Jeff glanced back over at Tyler. “Who was bullying who?” he asked Ms. Martin.                 

“It seems that when some of the children got wind of Tyler’s -” she cleared her throat once, “Familial situation, they started teasing him.”                 

Jeff turned back to the principal, shocked.                 

“We’re taking care of it.” She assured him. “I’ve spoken to the kids and their parents. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the situation to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Given the circumstances, we’re going to be lenient with Tyler this time. But fighting is unacceptable behavior.”                 

“I agree,” Jeff said. Beside him, Tyler peered at Jeff out of the corner of his eye, head still bowed. “I’m sorry that this happened. He’s not usually like this.”                  

“I’m aware. Other than this slip up, Tyler has been a model student. We’re very happy to have him here,” Ms. Martin said kindly. “However, we have a Zero Tolerance policy at this school, so unfortunately we can’t let him off with just a warning. He’s been given two days of In School Suspension as punishment, along with the other students involved in the incident.”                 

“I understand,” Jeff responded.                 

“That’s basically it,” she said, getting to her feet. “Let us know if you have any questions.” She extended her hand to Jeff again.                 

He took it briefly before turning to Tyler, who still hadn’t moved from his spot in the chair. “Let’s go.”                 

Tyler slowly got to his feet, scooping his backpack off the floor, and followed Jeff out of the office in silence.                 

Neither one of them spoke on the walk back to the car. They got into the car, but Jeff didn’t turn it on. After a couple minutes, Jeff finally broke the silence. “How long have they been teasing you?”                 

Tyler didn’t answer. He sat in the backseat and stared determinedly out the window.                 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were being bullied? I could have talked to the school. This could have been resolved without you punching someone.”                 

Tyler looked at Jeff then, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror. “They deserved it.”                 

Jeff turned around in his seat to look at him, “You can’t just hit people, Tyler. That’s not how you deal with stuff like this.”                 

“You don’t understand!” Tyler shouted.                 

“I understand better than you think. I was bullied, too.”                 

“That’s not what I meant,” Tyler muttered, turning away from Jeff again.                 

“Then explain what you meant.” When Tyler didn’t answer, Jeff took a steadying breath and tried again, “You have to talk to me. I can’t understand if you don’t talk to me.”                 

“You aren’t adopted. You _have_ a family,” Tyler said bitterly.                 

Jeff felt his breath catch in his throat. He turned around and faced the steering wheel, “You have a family, too.” He reached up and turned the key in the ignition, starting the car, but he didn’t take it out of park. “I want to understand,” he said finally. “And I want to be sympathetic, but that doesn’t change the fact that how you responded was wrong. You’re grounded until further notice.”                 

“Whatever,” Tyler grumbled from the backseat.                 

Jeff pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road. The sounds of life outside the car were startlingly loud compared to the utter quiet inside of it.                  

“We’re not going to Shirley’s?” Tyler asked a few minutes into the drive, looking out the window.                 

“No. You’re coming to school with me.”                 

“Why?”                 

“Seeing Jordan and Elijah would be fun. Being grounded is not fun.”                 

Tyler huffed loudly and crossed his arms.    

* * *

Tyler walked ahead of Jeff through the halls as they headed for study room F. He was trying very hard to not associate with Jeff in the slightest.                 

“Hey, short stuff!” Britta greeted cheerfully as they came through the door.                 

“Hey, Britta!” Tyler answered with a smile. Clearly it was only Jeff he was mad at.                 

Tyler immediately went to go pull up a chair between Troy and Abed but Jeff shook his head at him, “Nope.” He snapped his fingers and pointed at the empty chair beside him, “With me.”

Tyler didn’t move. He glared at Jeff from across the table. “I want to sit here.”                 

“You’re being punished, remember? You don’t get to do what you want.”                 

“You’re such a jerk!” Tyler shouted.                 

A collective gasp went around the table and everyone averted their eyes uncomfortably. They’d never seen Jeff and Tyler fight before.                 

“Tyler!” Jeff warned, trying to bring his son under control.                 

“Take me back to the group home!” Tyler shouted. “I don’t want to live with you anymore!”                 

“Okay, you need to calm down,” Jeff said, taking a step towards him, “We can discuss this later. Somewhere _not here_.”                 

“You can’t tell me what to do.”                 

“Yes, I can. That’s kinda my job description.”                 

“You are not my dad!” Tyler yelled before whipping around and running from the room, disappearing down the hall.                 

Jeff was frozen where he stood. He felt like he’d just been sucker-punched in the stomach. All the air had left his lungs and it felt like days had passed before he remembered how to inhale.                 

“Jeff?”                 

Shirley’s concerned voice brought him back to reality. He blinked his eyes back into focus and forcibly unlocked his frozen joints, taking two hesitant steps forward before going after Tyler.                 

Jeff strode quickly through the library, peering around every bookcase and looking into every study room. Tyler was nowhere to be found. “Tyler?” He called quietly as he searched, that panicked feeling he remembered from Halloween slowly overtaking him. “Tyler?”                 

Jeff was standing there at a loss of where to look next when a loud beeping erupted from the loudspeakers. His eyes snapped to the flashing lights that lined the hallway and he felt all the blood drain from his face. The fire alarm was going off.                 

He was quickly swept up in the crowd as students rushed past him, heading for the exits. Jeff pushed against them, urgently searching the mass of bodies for his son. He tried calling for him, but his voice was lost in din.                  

All hope of keeping what was left of his cool went out the window when the acrid smell of smoke hit his lungs. “Tyler!” The absolute panic in his voice made a few passersby turn their heads, but he couldn’t care less. Jeff kept up his frantic search until smoke began to fill the library. He held the collar of his shirt over his nose and mouth and turned to head for the exit, thinking that Tyler must have gone outside with everyone else, but stopped short when he heard Tyler’s voice call out to him. He turned to find Tyler staring at him from down a smoke-filled hallway, eyes wide with fear, hands pressed against the window of the closed door that separated him from Jeff.                 

“Jeff!” Tyler cried, banging his fist against the glass.                 

Jeff sprinted towards him, stumbling over his feet in his haste. He grabbed the handle and tried to force it open. It was jammed. “Stand back!” Jeff shouted at Tyler through the glass.                 

Jeff took two steps back and slammed his foot into the door, trying to kick it in. He reared back to do it again when gloved hands grabbed him and pulled him away. He twisted out of their grip and turned to see a fully suited firefighter. Jeff tried to get back to the door but the man stopped him again. “Move!” Jeff bellowed, but the man wouldn’t let go.                 

“Sir, you have to leave,” the man ordered through his mask, attempting to drag him away but Jeff fought back.                 

“My son is in there!” Jeff pointed at the door where Tyler’s pale face was visible through the window.                 

The man glanced over his shoulder. Two more people in proximity suits had just shown up. They began trying to pry the door open. “We’ll get him. You need to go.”                 

“I don’t think so.” Jeff again tried to fight past the man, but another fireman appeared at his side. They both held on tight and forced him down the hall, away from where Tyler was trapped. Jeff fought against them, but he couldn’t seem to overpower them.                 

“Dad!” Tyler screamed as Jeff was propelled down the hall, watching helplessly as they repeatedly tried to force the door open. They shoved him out onto the sidewalk outside of the library, only letting him go when someone else grabbed him and held him back.                  

People were shouting his name, but they sounded far away. He watched the two firefighters rush back into the library, smoke billowing through the open doors. He opened his mouth to shout after them but choked when he inhaled, his lungs trying to rid themselves of all the smoke he had breathed in. He doubled over, coughing violently.                 

“Jeff!” The voices were shouting again. The voices belonged to his friends. They were gathered around him, watching him hack up his lungs. They kept asking him questions, but he couldn’t hear them. He couldn’t have answered anyway. His lungs were too busy trying to remember how to function.                 

“Where’s Tyler?” Jeff finally heard Annie ask him.                 

“Still inside,” he managed to rasp, raising his eyes to focus on the open door. They all went quiet then. The only sound emanating from their group was Jeff’s wheezing. An EMT approached them and forced an oxygen mask over Jeff’s nose and mouth. She tried to get him to come with her to the nearest ambulance for further treatment but he refused. He wasn’t going anywhere.

The longest seconds in the world ticked by as they watched the entrance to the library. Finally, movement stirred the smoke that clogged the doorway. Out came two firefighters, Tyler’s limp body stretched between them. They loaded him onto a stretcher they had waiting by the door. EMTs rushed over and began wheeling him towards an ambulance, checking his vitals as they moved.                 

Jeff shoved the mask off his face and stumbled over to the gurney. “Is he okay?” He asked breathlessly, his voice cracking as he looked down at his unconscious son. His face was dirty, covered in soot.                 

"Who are you?” One of the men asked, reaching out to put his hand against Jeff’s chest to hold him back.                 

Jeff shoved his hand away, “I’m his father! _Is he okay_?”                 

“Come with us.” The man hadn’t answered Jeff’s question.                 

Jeff did as he was told and climbed into back of the ambulance. He watched in helpless stupor as they strapped an oxygen mask to Tyler’s face and prepared to insert an IV into his arm. They shined a light into both of his eyes. Unresponsive was the word they used. Jeff felt like he’d been submerged in ice water.                  

Arrival at the hospital was hectic. Jeff was in a blur. He followed the stretcher into the hospital, running alongside the nurses, trying to understand what was happening. It was like no one was speaking English.                 

As they approached a set of double doors, someone stopped him. He wasn’t allowed to go through. He stood and watched them disappear from sight, the doors swinging shut, barring him from his son and anyone who could tell him what was going on.                  

He stared unseeingly at the Do Not Enter signs, absolutely numb, until suddenly he wasn’t. He looked down at his hands, dirty with black soot from the smoke, and tried to breathe past the hitch in his chest. He wasn’t feeling one thing; he was feeling _everything_.                 

He turned weakly from the sight of the doors and reached into his pocket for his phone. He dialed the number with trembling fingers and slowly raised the phone to his ear.                 

“Well, hello there!” the voice said, her obliviously cheerful tone juxtaposing morbidly with Jeff’s surroundings. “How funny that you called! I was just thinking about you boys. When are you coming to visit?”                 

Jeff took a deep breath, trying to control the tremor in his voice, “Mom?” 

* * *

Jeff sat forward in his chair, his forearms resting against his thighs, palms pressed flat together, head bowed, eyes closed. He breathed in and out slowly, deliberately. He couldn’t remember not sitting like this. People had stopped trying to talk to him a long time ago. His friends had found him like this. They’d showed up as a group and naturally filled in the empty waiting room seats around him, claiming an entire corner of the room as their own. They’d tried to ask him about what he knew, and he very much wanted to answer them but he couldn’t. If he moved from this spot, if he for one second stopped counting his breaths, he would break. He would fall apart and that wasn’t something he knew how to do. So he made himself a living statue and tried to make his lungs breathe for Tyler, too.                 

Time didn’t seem to be passing at all, but it must have been. It had to have been. Life wasn’t cruel enough to leave him in limbo forever. He was concentrating so hard on the sound of the air moving in and out of his lungs that he didn’t hear his name being called. It wasn’t until Shirley gently nudged his arm that he became aware of anything around him.                 

“Jeff, it’s the doctor,” She whispered to him.                 

“Mr. Winger?” An unfamiliar voice called out.                 

Jeff’s head snapped up, eyes falling on the man in a long white lab coat who had spoken to him. It was clear from his expression that this wasn’t the first time he’d said his name. Jeff shot to his feet, taking half a step forward before speaking, “Yes?” His voice sounded as strained as he felt.                 

“Hello, I’m Dr. Mercer. I’m the physician in charge of Tyler’s case.”                 

“How is he?” Jeff asked, not the least bit interested in pleasantries.                 

Dr. Mercer pressed his lips into a thin line before answering. “We’ve got him stabilized. No burns. Sometimes with smoke inhalation there’s burning around the nose or mouth, but he seems fine in that respect. We performed a chest x-ray and found no significant damage to the lungs or throat, no fluid in the lungs, which is great.” The doctor looked down at his clipboard as he continued, “He’s still experiencing some bronchospasms, which is a constriction of the air passages similar to an asthma attack. So, we’ve given him some medication for that. He’s being kept on oxygen to help him breathe.”                 

Jeff had just begun to let himself feel hopeful when the doctor looked back up at him with serious eyes, “However, I do have to inform you that he is still unconscious. With structure fires, we automatically assume that there’s some degree of carbon monoxide or cyanide poisoning due to the chemical makeup of the smoke. As a precaution, treatment for both of these was administered intravenously during transport to the hospital. We’re waiting for the results of a blood test that will tell us if he was exposed to either toxin. I must warn you that it is very likely that he was, since he’s still comatose, but we can’t be sure at what levels he was exposed to them until we get those results back. At this moment, he’s being prepped for a CT scan. That will help us understand why he isn’t waking up.”                  

Jeff’s heart was a lead weight in his chest. Dr. Mercer, paused and gripped his clipboard with both hands, studying Jeff’s face before speaking. “I’m sorry. I know it isn’t the best news, _but_ exposure to these toxins is survivable, especially in small amounts. Tyler is young and healthy and is being given the best treatment we can offer… I’ll keep you updated on his condition as it progresses. Let one of the nurses know if you have any questions.”                  

The doctor turned and walked away down the hall. Jeff didn’t watch him go. He didn’t want to move. He wanted to be a statue again. But it was too late. The spell had been broken. He knew he’d been right to keep himself from thinking, from feeling, because this hurt. It was worse than he could have imagined. His shoulders hunched forward instinctively, flinching from the pain, but there was nothing he could do to avoid it. There was nothing he could do.                 

He forced himself upright and his eyes found a figure jogging towards him from across the room. It was his mom. It had been decades since he’d wanted his mother’s comfort, but suddenly it was like he was ten years old again. He was a drowning man and she was a life preserver. As soon as her arms were around his shoulders, he fell apart. He tasted salt as tears ran down his face and into his mouth.                  

“I can’t do this,” he choked out, his head pressed against her shoulder. “I can’t.”                 

“Yes, you can,” Doreen whispered, running her fingers through the back of Jeff’s hair, trying to calm him.                 

“I can’t. I don’t know how. How do you care this much and not die? I feel like I’m dying.” He desperately tried to remember his life before. Before Greendale. Before having friends. Before Tyler. He tried to remember what not caring had felt like and he couldn’t do it. All he could do was continue to crumble to pieces in his mother’s arms. “We had a fight. He got in trouble at school and we had a fight. It can’t end like that. He can’t…”                 

“Shh,” Doreen soothed. “It’s going to be fine.”                 

“He called me dad. When he was trapped. He’s never called me that before…” Jeff sobbed. Doreen had nothing to say to that. She just continued to shush him and run her fingers through his hair while he cried himself dry.                  

Jeff had somehow managed to fall asleep, his head resting lightly against Annie’s shoulder. He couldn’t have been asleep long, though, because he still felt exhausted when he had been shaken awake. He sat up groggily and rubbed his swollen eyes with the heels of his hands. He looked over at Annie who was pointing down the hallway. Jeff followed her finger and immediately jumped to his feet. Dr. Mercer was making his way towards them. Everyone copied him, standing up as Jeff stepped forward to meet the doctor.                 

“Good news. Tyler is starting to wake up.” A collective cheer sounded from the group behind them. “He’s going in and out of consciousness right now, which is normal, but he should be absolutely fine. His CT scan was clear. Blood tests did show that he had inhaled some amount of carbon monoxide and cyanide, but not enough to do any lasting damage. He’s getting oxygen therapy now to help his body breakdown what’s left of the poisons. He’ll need to stay a few nights for observation, but provided that he’s fully conscious and feels well enough, he can go home as soon as Saturday.”                 

Jeff couldn’t believe it. It was like he’d been pumped full of helium. It was like someone had taken the weight of the world off his shoulders. “Can we see him?” Doreen asked from behind him.         

“He’s being moved to a room in the PICU as we speak,” the doctor said with a smile, but then amended, “The process of waking up can take some time. He’ll probably be a little disoriented. So, for now, maybe just the father? Once he’s completely awake he can have as many visitors as he’d like.”                 

Jeff nodded, not trusting his voice to speak. Tyler was fine.                 

“Follow me,” Dr. Mercer said.                 

Jeff shot the group gathered behind him an astonished smile, the first smile that had touched his lips since that morning in the cafeteria, before loping after the doctor.                  

He entered Tyler’s room quietly and moved to his bedside, pulling up a chair and taking a seat. Tyler’s eyes were closed and his chest moved up and down rhythmically. He had an oxygen mask still strapped over his nose and mouth and a heart monitor clipped to his pointer finger. His hair was a mess and he looked pale, but otherwise he seemed unharmed. He looked like he could be napping. Jeff reached out and gently took Tyler’s hand in his, running his thumb back and forth in a soothing arc.                 

He studied Tyler’s face for a moment before dropping his head to the bed, resting his forehead against the mattress. He was spent. Today had been a rollercoaster that he never wanted to ride again. But his exhaustion could do nothing to hold back the wave a pure relief that had crashed over him. There was no way to express this feeling.                 

The sheets on the bed rustled and Tyler’s hand twitched. Jeff raised his head and found Tyler’s eyes open and meeting his. “Dad?”                 

Jeff let out a breath of a laugh and smiled. “I’m here.” He said, his voice coming out as a whisper. He swallowed past the lump in his throat and tried again, “I’m here.”                 

“Where am I?” Tyler asked. His voice was rough and muffled. He winced a little as he spoke.                 

“You’re in the hospital. There was a fire, remember? You breathed in too much smoke, so we had to bring you here. But you’re fine now.”                 

Tyler shifted so that he was higher up on his pillows and studied Jeff carefully before speaking again. “You were crying,” He noted, reaching out and touching Jeff’s red-rimmed eyes.                 

Jeff nodded, “I was. I didn’t know if you were going to be okay. I was scared.”                 

“Like Halloween?”                 

Jeff laughed. “So much worse than Halloween.”                 

Tyler watched him silently again. He went to remove his oxygen mask but Jeff reached out to stop him, “Don’t take it off. You need that to help you breathe.”                 

Tyler ignored him and shoved it down around his neck anyway. He looked up at Jeff earnestly, “I’m sorry.”                 

“Don’t apologize. I’m the one who’s supposed to be worrying about you,” Jeff said, leaning forward to try to force Tyler’s mask back on, but Tyler moved away and shook his head.                 

“I’m sorry I yelled at you.”                 

Jeff moved back so that he could see Tyler clearly. The boy’s eyes were sad and worried.                 

“I’m sorry I yelled. I didn’t mean what I said. You’re not going to send me away, are you?”                 

Jeff leaned over the bed and pressed his lips to Tyler’s forehead. “Never,” he said into his messy, blond hair. “I’m your dad. You’re stuck with me.”                 

When he sat back down, Tyler was smiling. “Now for the love of God will you please put your mask back on?” He said reaching over and adjusting mask so that it was in its proper place. “Good thing we’re in a hospital because you’re going to give me a heart attack.”                 

Tyler giggled. Behind his oxygen mask he was flashing Jeff that bright, heart-melting smile.                                                     

* * *

 

 Jeff stood beneath a white and blue floral archway, facing the chalkboard. The study room had been redecorated to look like a wedding venue, complete with bride and groom’s side seating: Annie and Dean Pelton’s doing. They were throwing him an elaborate graduation party, and for once he was actually okay with it. He had, after all, requested it.                 

Jeff checked his watch and sighed. “Can I turn around now?” he asked.                 

“Not yet,” Abed answered.                 

Jeff drummed his fingers against his leg impatiently. He’d been asked to get here early. When he’d arrived, he’d been met by Abed who instructed him to stand facing the wall with no explanation. “Abed, as fascinating as this chalkboard is, I’d really like to not be staring at it anymore. I’ve been standing here for fifteen minutes.”                 

“They’re almost here.”                 

“Who is?”                 

When Abed didn’t answer he sighed again. This was getting tedious. A few moments later he could hear tiptoed footsteps and hushed voices approaching from the doorway to his right.

“Alright, turn around!” Annie’s excited voice called from behind him.                 

Jeff turned around to find Annie, Shirley, Britta, Troy, and Abed gathered together in a clump, all beaming. In front of the group stood Tyler wearing a brand-new suit and tie that matched the party’s color theme perfectly. It was adorable.                 

“What’s this?” Jeff asked, a grin spreading across his face.                 

“We took him shopping and bought him a suit,” Britta explained.                 

“As a graduation present for you!” Annie was bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet.                 

“Ta-da!” Tyler cheered, raising his arms to show off his new clothes.                 

Jeff knelt down and Tyler leapt into his outstretched arms. “Well, don’t you look suave?” Jeff said to Tyler as he stood up, resting his son against his hip. “Thanks guys,” he said to his friends with genuine affection. “He looks great.”                 

“You’re welcome,” Shirley cooed.                 

“Enjoy your lame present,” Troy teased as he and Abed moved away to take their seats for the ceremony. Britta and Shirley followed their lead.                 

“Troy! Don’t be rude!” Annie admonished, turning in their direction.                 

Jeff rolled his eyes at his friends before turning his attention back to the boy in his arms, “How do you like the new threads?”                 

“Annie said I’m handsome enough to give you a run for your money,” Tyler parroted happily. Annie whipped around looking mortified. Jeff grinned mischievously at her.                 

“Did she now?”                 

Annie blushed scarlet. “I have to go check on the flowers,” she lied, and hurried away to the far side of the room, pretending to fix one of the flower arrangements against the back wall. Jeff watched her with a smug sense of satisfaction.                 

Britta came up to him then, smiling at him proudly. “What do you say we get this show on the road?”                 

“Finally,” Jeff joked, setting Tyler down on the ground. “I’ve only been ready graduate since 2009.”                 

“Whatever, Winger.” Britta turned her attention to Tyler, “Ready to be the diploma bearer?” she asked, extending her hand to him.                 

“Yes!” he said, reaching out to grab her hand.                 

“Let’s go!” They took off together towards the hallway, passing the rest of the party guests on their way out the door.                 

Jeff went to stand in his spot underneath the archway and looked around at the gathering crowd of his friends and classmates. The wave of nostalgia that hit him was unprecedented. He had so many memories of these people and this campus. Surprisingly, some of them were actually good. If he was honest with himself, he was sad to be leaving. He’d been in such a rush to get out of here, but now that he was one over-the-top ceremony away from freedom, he found he wasn’t as relived as he thought he’d be. As excited as he was to get back out into the real world and do what he loved again, he couldn’t help but feel that end-of-an-era kind of sadness.                 

He looked out the study room window into the hall where he could see his son talking animatedly to Britta while she adjusted the suit his friends had bought for him and smiled. Maybe this was the end of an era. Maybe he would never be a Greendale student again. But the people he had connected with here would always be in his life, no matter what happened after graduation. After all, family is important.

 


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**March**                  

Jeff was sticking candles into a red and blue iced cake while the sounds of screaming children and crashing bowling pins echoed from behind him. It was Tyler’s eighth birthday and Jeff had rented out the bowling alley for the party. It wasn’t the venue he would have chosen, but it’s what Tyler had requested, so here they were.                  

“Nice shoes.”                 

Jeff looked over his shoulder to see Britta smirking at him. He glanced down at his brand new black and white bowling shoes and turned back to his cake decorating. “I wasn’t about to wear rental shoes. Do you know how many other people have worn those?”                 

“I notice Tyler has some new shoes as well,” she teased, taking a seat at the table that Jeff was busy setting up.                 

“I repeat: Do you know how many other people have worn those?” Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of Britta’s face. She was smiling at him very knowingly. He turned to face her. “What’s that look for?” he asked.                 

“Nothing,” Her tone was innocent, but she was still smiling at him.                 

“That look has never meant nothing.”                 

She smiled wider and settled back in her chair. “Just thinking. You’re pretty good at this Mr. Mom thing after all.”                 

Jeff turned back to the cake. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”                 

“Of course you don’t,” she said smugly, turning to watch as someone’s bowling ball slammed into the pins. After a few seconds, she looked back at Jeff, her tone no longer smug, “Sorry that I doubted you.”                 

“And you’ll never do it again.”                 

“I wouldn’t go that far,” she replied with a grin and got to her feet, heading back to the bowling area.                 

“What? You came over here to make fun of my shoes and leave?” Jeff called after her.                 

“It’s my turn!” she called back from her lane. She hefted her bowling ball up for him to see. “I’m kicking Shirley’s ass!”                 

“Only because she won’t put her bag down! It’s hard to bowl with a ten-pound purse on your arm!” Shirley shot him a scathing look and he grinned back wickedly.                 

Jeff turned back to his work. The cake was done, so he started on setting the table. He was placing paper plates and cups at each seat around the table when Annie approached. “Here, let me help.” She took the plates from him and started laying them out.                 

“Thanks.”                 

“So, how’s the new job going?” Annie asked conversationally.                 

“Eh, it’s slow going,” Jeff said with a shrug. “It’s nice to be my own boss and all, but I was hoping things would have picked up by now.”                 

“Maybe you should advertise.”                 

Jeff looked up at her skeptically. “Advertise?”                 

She kept her eyes on her work as she went around the table setting down plates and plasticware. “Yeah, like a commercial. You could hire Abed to make it for you.”                 

Jeff screwed up his face at the thought. “I don’t know. It would be pretty low-budget. I think it would just end up reminding people of Saul Goodman. Not really the association I want potential clients to make.”                 

“Well. Your office _is_ in a strip mall.”                 

“Not cool, Annie!”                 

“Just think about it, okay?” She was giving him puppy dog eyes.                 

“You’re just trying to get your roommate a job,” He accused. She poked out her lip in response. She was on the verge of full-on Disney face. “Fine,” He sighed. “I’ll think about it.”                 

Her face immediately split into a joyful smile. “Thanks, Jeff!”                 

“Annie!” Tyler came sprinting up to Annie and grabbed her arm.                 

“Hey, birthday boy,” She greeted.                  

“Annie! You should come over tonight.”                 

She was clearly taken aback. “Well, I-”                 

“Dad likes hanging out with you,” Tyler interrupted. “He told me he wished you’d come over for dinner again.”                 

“Did he now?” A sly grin spread over her face. Jeff stood stock still, mortified.                 

“See you tonight!” Tyler shouted as he turned to run off in the direction of the bowling lanes.                 

Annie took one look at Jeff and burst into laughter, “You’re blushing.”                 

Jeff felt himself go even redder. “Excuse me while I go murder my son,” He muttered, heading in the direction that Tyler had just fled.                 

“Jeff!” Annie called to him, her voice still full of laughter. He hesitantly turned towards her, expecting to be teased some more. Instead he was met with her flirtatious smile. “See you tonight?”                 

He gaped at her for half a second before he composed himself and gave her a nod, trying to appear cool and collected. The way she laughed made him sure she saw right through it, but he didn’t really care. He turned away from her again and had to take a couple deep breaths to calm the butterflies that had suddenly taken up residence in his stomach.                 

“Alright,” he shouted in the direction of the bowling lanes, getting himself back into dad mode. “Who’s ready for cake?”                 

 


End file.
